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Newcastle set their sights on £42m “new Vidic”

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According to Caught Offside, Newcastle United are interested in Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic and monitoring his situation ahead of the transfer window.

January will present a huge opportunity for Newcastle United to bolster and improve the quality of the squad going into the business half of the season, and a positive transfer window will be essential.

In the summer, it was widely felt that the club did not do enough to strengthen the current squad, adding crucial depth in key positions to continue the Saudi-led project on Tyneside in an upward trajectory.

Despite the arrival of new sporting director Paul Mitchell, the business did not match the club’s ambition, who have revived their involvement in European football in recent seasons, with a Champions League campaign that was, albeit short-lived, a great opportunity for supporters and players alike.

Injuries have played their part as the biggest weakness in Newcastle’s attempt to rise to the top, with numerous first-team players either picking up season-ending problems or several different issues accumulating that have contributed to extended time on the sidelines.

As a result, the solution would be to add depth to the squad in the most important and vulnerable positions, with the defensive set-up and the right winger position the most pressing concern at present, so January will offer the club another opportunity to secure signatures of season-changers.

One player who has recently been linked to the club is Nottingham Forest star Nikola Milenkovic, with Caught Offside reporting this week that the North East giants are monitoring his situation on Trentside as the transfer window draws closer.

The publication claims that with Dan Burn and Fabian Schar’s contracts expiring in 2025, Newcastle are weighing up their options on either extending the two defenders stay at the club or moving on with new additions.

It is noted that Forest would want at least €50m (£42m) for Milenkovic if they were to part ways with their defender who only just recently joined them from Fiorentina.

Should Newcastle sign Nikola Milenkovic?

There is no doubt that defensive reinforcements are desperately needed at St James’ Park, and broadening the pool of potential prospects from just Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi in January will give Newcastle a better chance of achieving their goals.

The six-foot-five Serbian defender has already shown his huge dominance and quality for the Garibaldi Reds this season, helping them to start the campaign strong sitting tenth in the Premier League at present.

As per SofaScore, the 27-year-old – who was once dubbed “the new Vidic” by former Serbia head coach Mladen Krstaji – has averaged an 88% pass completion rate, six clearances and 2.7 ball recoveries per game, as well as completing 65% of his total duels over three league appearances.

It will take more than three impressive performances to convince Eddie Howe and his sporting director that Milenkovic is capable of displacing Schar, but as mentioned in the report, the club will monitor the player’s progress into the turn of the year before making a decision as to whether to pull the trigger.

With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Newcastle do make an offer for the talented defender in 2025, as there is ultimately big decisions on the backline that need urgently addressing before the season ends.

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