Newcastle United eye first January signing as £8.4m bid for 6’5 wonderkid rejected

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Newcastle United have made an early approach to bolster their squad in January, according to Italian media.

The Magpies defence has looked shoddy at times this season, with Saturday’s clean sheet over Leicester the first in six, and the latest rumour is that Eddie Howe is looking to reinforce his backline with a 6’5” centre-back.

The Newcastle manager has already hinted that it will be all hands on deck as he said Lewis Miley will not be loaned out, work will still have to be done if the latest addition is to be added in the winter window to help with the European push.

Newcastle United have initial bid for Juma Bah rejected

Newcastle have had a €10m (£8.3m) bid rejected for Real Valladolid centre-back Juma Bah, according to a report from SportItalia.

There will be stiff competition for the signing of the imposing 18-year-old with interest from Manchester City and Chelsea – however, the Spanish club have not ruled out selling the Sierra Leone youth international in January should Toon meet their asking price.

The sought-after defender has started seven La Liga games this season, earning man of the match in his most recent outing against Valencia, with Newcastle the only side to have tabled a bid thus far.

The rejection from Valladolid for the starlet is the second one suffered by Newcastle as they look to add youth to their defensive rankings, right-back target Josh Acheampong was offered a new Chelsea contract putting to bed rumours he may move to the northeast.

Sven Botman is set to return for Newcastle in the coming weeks, and he himself will feel like a new signing in a pivotal few weeks for the European football hopefuls – but Bah could prove a welcome addition to the squad regardless.

Is Bah ready for Newcastle’s first team?

With plenty of miles in the 32-year-old legs of Fabian Schar, Newcastle must begin to prepare for life without the Swissman who has been a feature of their backline since 2018.

The right-footed partner to the left-sided Botman, there is no obvious successor to Schar within the current squad. Cathal Heffernan once seemed the most likely to progress to the first team but, now 19 years old and without a competitive minute to his name, Newcastle must look again to find a future partner for the Dutchman.

Newcastle’s pursuit of a centre-back has been well-publicised, the increasingly unlikely signing of a Crystal Palace defender handed a further blow as Liverpool prepare a move for Marc Guehi, and the youth market is a logical place for Paul Mitchell to tap into after missing his main target.