Newcastle United are in the hunt to sign Manchester United centre-back Axel Tuanzebe, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claims that Steve Bruce wants to sign the 21-year-old defender for a second summer in a row after he welcomed him to Aston Villa a year ago.
However it is understood that Newcastle would have to wait for Man United to complete the signing of Leicester’s Harry Maguire before they can lure Tuanzebe to St James’ Park before the summer transfer window slams shut next week.
OPINION
Why do Newcastle need another centre-back? The Daily Mail claims that Bruce wants to bolster his defensive options before the 2019/20 season kicks off next week because he is likely to play with a system that utilises three at the back. However Newcastle already have plenty of centre-back options. Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark, Florian Lejeune, Fabian Schar and Federico Fernandez are all already at the club while Paul Dummett can also fill in on the left-side of a back-three if needed. Unless a couple of them leave, Bruce does not need to be wasting Newcastle’s resources on new centre-backs. Tuanzebe did well to help Villa win promotion last season as he made 35 appearances across all competitions. However the 6ft [transfermarkt] defender only played five times in the Premier League before and might be a slight risk. It’s not worth Newcastle’s time in trying to strike a deal, especially as it might be a loan.
