Newcastle United are interested in 20-year-old Italian defender Matteo Bianchetti according to local Verona newspaper L’Arena.
Bianchetti, who currently plies his trade for Verona, moved from Inter Milan to the Serie B side in January following a promising loan spell with the club.
Standing at 6ft 2in tall, Bianchetti has played for various Italian youth teams, making seven appearances for the Italy U21 side within the last six months.
The right-footed centre back is valued around the £1 million mark and Newcastle are likely to track his progression at Verona and see how the youngster develops.
There isn’t much doing the rounds about Bianchetti, but as you’d expect for a young centre back, his best attributes appear to be heading accuracy, his responsiveness and ability to jump.
The creators of the Pro Evolution Soccer database say that: “Bianchetti is a defender with optimal physique, he is not excellent with regards to speed but he has a good sense of positioning and anticipation.”
They continue: “At Internazionale he had a great season with Strama before the injury that put him out of action for six month. His idol is Giorgio Chiellini and Bianchetti sometimes now plays on the left side – he is right-footed but he is very good also with his left-foot.”
Not a signing to get particularly excited about, but it would show that Newcastle are taking the scouting of Europe’s finest youngsters very seriously.
