Last summer, of course, saw Newcastle United fail to strengthen their defensive options.
Indeed, Newcastle tried to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace but failed in their pursuit of the England international.
This summer, however, could be different.
Newcastle are interested in signing a defender and plenty of names have been linked, as you might expect.
One of the more high-profile players touted for a move to St James’ Park is Bayern Munich defender, Kim Min-Jae.
Newcastle were interested in Kim while he was at Napoli but the German giants eventually won the race to sign him.
The defender’s situation in Bavaria, however, may now have changed.
Fabrizio Romano confirms Kim Min-Jae update amid Newcastle United links
Recent claims from FootMercato have suggested Newcastle have made contact over a deal for Kim ahead of a potential move this summer.
Now, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has provided an update.
Romano took to social media platform X to reveal the South Korean international is no longer considered “untouchable” at Bayern this summer.
He adds that Kim has a “concrete” chance of leaving the German giants and that several European clubs have been informed about the developing situation.
Clubs in the Saudi Pro League are also said to have been in contact.
https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1915056828368720335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1915056828368720335%7Ctwgr%5E27d1d4ce6d5838df4e1956820d6dedb4128d0e81%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geordiebootboys.com%2Ftransfers%2Fnewcastle-united-target-no-longer-untouchable-as-eddie-howe-gets-sudden-transfer-boost%2F
Kim Min-Jae salary could prove a problem at Newcastle United
Bruno Guimaraes is Newcastle’s highest-paid player on a reported £160k-per-week and breaking the wage structure would be a huge call from the club.
At some point, it’ll need to happen but surely rewarding the players who are currently performing well first makes sense, rather than smashing it for a signing.
According to Capology, Kim earns around £196k-per-week at Bayern. That would blow the likes of Guimaraes out the water at St James’.
Paying such huge wages for a player approaching 30 does not feel in keeping with what Newcastle have done in the PIF era.
