According to transfer expert Dean Jones, Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe is “adamant” on not signing Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi on Deadline Day.
Newcastle have had a serious anti-climax to their summer transfer window after weeks in pursuit of Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, and it looks like the market will close without any further incomings.
The Magpies secured early deals for John Ruddy, Lloyd Kelly, Lewis Hall, William Osula and Odysseas Vlachodimos but no definite first-team targets have been identified and secured in the last few weeks.
It is abundantly clear that the Newcastle hierarchy had their hearts set on bringing in Guehi as their marquee signing to bolster the defensive presence in the absence of Sven Botman, and to become the natural replacement for Fabian Schar as he reaches the latter stages of his career.
However, after much back and forth with the South London club and several bids rejected, it is looking less and less likely that an agreement can be reached in the dying hours of the transfer window, without any other options being cited to be an alternative at this stage.
Links to defenders surplus to the requirements of Chelsea have been strongly reported in recent days with both Axel Disasi and Trevoh Chalobah being named as potential options for Newcastle to get in their much-needed reinforcements before it’s too late.
Now Dean Jones has revealed to GIVEMESPORT that Howe has no intention of bringing in Disasi or Chalobah as an alternative option:
“Newcastle were given chance to sign Disasi but Eddie Howe seems adamant he does not want him.”
“His view on this is it was Marc Guehi or nothing, so even now throwing someone like Chalobah into the frame does not really fit with the elevation he felt he would be getting from the Guehi deal.”
Will Newcastle sign a player on Deadline Day?
Disasi was signed by the Blues for £38.5m just 12 months ago, so it would be inconceivable that the club would be willing to part ways with the defender for less than what they paid for, especially in a late permanent deal and knowing how desperate Newcastle would have become if they were to indulge in an offer.
There is a glimmer hope for the St James’ Park faithful though as Howe sat down for his pre-match press conference ahead of the Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, revealing the club’s plans for the final hours of the summer transfer window:
“There is still work going on to try to see what we can do in the last few hours of the window. So while there is time, there is hope.”
“We won’t be closed right until the end in both ways [in or out], maybe one or two of the younger players going on out. We are looking for loans for two or three of those so let’s see what happens in the last few hours.”
“We have a good squad and we like all of the players we have in our squad, but there is a feeling, of course, that there are a few areas of the squad we felt we needed to strengthen. I think we will carry those emotions, depending on what happens, into the last few hours [of the transfer window].”
With that being said, Newcastle will be one to watch for the rest of the day and if they could find a worthy alternative to Guehi to add a fresh perspective in the back-line it would be massively advantageous.
