According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Newcastle United are now in talks with Bayer Leverkusen about signing their centre-back Edmond Tapsoba this summer.
Newcastle have been in a month-long battle with Crystal Palace to sign their star defender Marc Guehi, but failed to reach an agreement with their Premier League peers to get a deal over the line.
The Magpies had made four bids for the England centre-back before Palace agreed a deal with Fulham for Joachim Andersen, and now it looks incredibly unlikely that the South London outfit would be willing to part ways with a second starting defender at this stage of the transfer window.
As a result, the Newcastle hierarchy will need to turn their attention elsewhere as a centre-back signing is much needed before the transfer market closes next week.
Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles are expected to be unavailable for selection until the new year as the pair recover from undergoing ACL surgery, leaving little depth in the centre-back roles over the next four months.
It seems like the Magpies are already on the case to find the solution before the deadline, with The Athletic’s David Ornstein tweeting late last night that the club are working on two potential alternatives to Guehi.
Ornstein revealed:
“Newcastle stepping up work on alternative centre-backs in case deal cannot be agreed with Crystal Palace for Marc Guehi. #NUFC talking to Bayer Leverkusen over Edmond Tapsoba + expressed interest to Chelsea about Axel Disasi @TheAthleticFC #Bayer04 #CFC”
How much will Edmond Tapsoba cost?
There is no doubt that Newcastle desperately need to sign a centre-back before the transfer window shuts, with Dan Burn and Emile Krafth expected to form the centre-back partnership against Bournemouth this weekend.
Quality depth in the squad has been the biggest problem on Tyneside for Eddie Howe, as he has tried to maintain high expectations after securing Champions League qualification and a cup final in his first full season at the club.
Indeed, Fabian Schar and Sven Botman make a deadly duo for any attackers looking to trouble the Newcastle defensive line, but with Botman not expected back until 2025 and Schar reaching the latter stages of his career, it would be a no-brainer for the club to look at reinvestment in the role.
After an outstanding start with Leverkusen last season, it was reported last January that the Bundesliga champions would refuse to part ways with Tapsoba for less than €60m (£51m) despite only paying €18m (£15m) to secure his services.
Over 28 Bundesliga appearances, the 25-year-old – who was once dubbed ‘frightening’ – kept seven clean sheets, successfully completed 81% of his dribbles and tallied up a 91% pass completion rate, as well averaging a whopping 6.3 ball recoveries, 78.4 touches, 63.8 accurate passes and 3.3 total duels per game.
Not only that, the Burkina Faso born talent ranks in the top 5% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for progressive passes and progressive carries, as well as the top 10% for successful take-ons and shot-creating actions, demonstrating his clear strengths in building attacking play from the back, as per FBref.
Tapsoba is seemingly the ideal solution to a nagging problem on Tyneside and not only provides a short-term solution in Botman’s absence, but is young enough for Howe to mould him into the centre-back needed to eventually replace Schar in the starting centre-back partnership of the future.
With that being said, a move for Tapsoba will be one to watch and it will be interesting to see the valuation that Leverkusen expect to be met for the player.
