Chronicle Editor
Newcastle United have set their sights on signing Aston Villa midfielder Marvelous Nakamba in January, Football Insider can exclusively reveal.
The Saudi-owned club are in the market for major reinforcements in the winter window as they look to escape relegation from the Premier League and put the club on a firmer footing.
A Newcastle source has told Football Insider that strengthening central midfield is a priority in January and Nakamba is a target because of his energy and drive.
It is expected to take a fee of around £15m to prise the 27-year-old Zimbabwe international from Villa Park.
He fits the ball for the midfield anchorman profile Newcastle want to help protect their porous back line.
The north-east giants are expected to be the busiest Premier League club in the January window following the Saudi-led takeover that was completed earlier this month.
Nakamba joined Villa in the summer of 2019 from Club Brugge for around £11m and has a contract until 2024.
He has been a key squad man since his arrival but has struggled to be a regular Premier League starter.
Douglas Luiz and John McGinn are the first-choice central midfielders in Dean Smith’s side, while £14m was spent on Morgan Sanson in January.
Nakamba has started only one of Villa’s nine Premier League matches this season, the opening-day 3-2 defeat to Watford.
His other two starts have come in the EFL Cup against Chelsea and League Two outfit Barrow.
Nakamba has made 57 appearances in total for Villa, seven of which have come this season.
In other news, Smith under “huge” pressure at Aston Villa as manager masterplan revealed. – Football Insider
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:107%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Online Reporter