Grant Hanley has been linked with a move to Birmingham City.
According to a report in the Birmingham Mail the Newcastle defender is wanted by Harry Redknapp to anchor his side’s promotion hopes.
Newcastle paid Blackburn £5m for the Scotland defender a year ago but he barely featured in Newcastle’s promotion winning campaign.
While Birmingham and other Championship clubs are interested in Hanley matching his contract which runs until 2021 will be a stretch on top of a transfer fee.
After adding Florian Lejeune to last season’s defensive options there won’t be any place in Benitez’s plans for the Scotland defender in the season ahead.
Ideally Newcastle would like to bring in a transfer fee for Hanley but they may have to settle for a loan fee which would be of more interest to Redknapp as he attempts to build a promotion challenge.
Redknapp had expressed an interest in John Terry but couldn’t match the terms on offer from Aston Villa.
