Newcastle make approach for £25m ace and Howe's already revealed his thoughts

Newcastle United are said to have made contact with a huge club over signing a player who Eddie Howe has hailed as “very good” in the past.

Newcastle already pushing for summer signings

The Magpies are already being linked with new signings under the assumption that they will qualify for next season’s Champions League, with Dinamo Zagreb attacking midfielder Martin Baturina mentioned as a potential target this week. He has scored twice and registered one assist in Europe’s top club competition in 2024/25.

Newcastle need to target a new striker this summer, in order to provide more competition for Alexander Isak, especially with Callum Wilson expected to leave the club. Liam Delap is one possible option to come in, having suffered relegation from the Premier League with Ipswich Town and not wanting to play in the Championship next season.

At the other end of the pitch, the Magpies continue to target goalkeepers, with Espanyol ace Joan Garcia seen as an alternative option to the likes of James Trafford and Caoimhin Kelleher. He has even quite bizarrely been compared to Lionel Messi, with Manolo Gonzalez saying: “It’s like when Barcelona had Messi. There were tough matches, and Messi would resolve them. Well, we have that in goal with Joan Garcia.”

A centre-back is also required for Newcastle before next season gets underway, in order to add freshness to a key area of the pitch, and now a new update has emerged regarding a potential addition there.

According to The Boot Room‘s Graeme Bailey, Newcastle have made an approach to AC Milan over the signing of centre-back Malick Thiaw this summer, in a possible £25m transfer.

They are “one of several clubs” believed to be in the race to snap up the 23-year-old, with Milan “prepared to listen to offers for some of their regular starters” ahead of the upcoming window.

Newcastle have been linked with a move for Thiaw for several weeks, and it now appears as though they have cranked up their efforts to bring him in.

The German could add quality in and out of possession for the Magpies, having enjoyed a 93.4% pass completion rate and averaged 3.5 clearances per game in Serie A this season.

Meanwhile, Howe has shown his admiration for Thiaw, too, saying of him: “There’s no updates on that. I’m always reluctant to comment on these things, but he’s a player I know about, of course I do, from our games in the Champions League against Milan and yeah, he’s a very good player, but that’s it.”

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At 23, Thiaw could be the young centre-back that Newcastle crave this summer, coming in as a mainstay alongside Sven Botman, with Fabian Schar and Dan Burn not getting any younger.