Eddie Howe looking to bring in one of two Premier League defenders on loan

If Luke Edwards of The Telegraph is to be believed—and his record this summer hasn't been great—Eddie Howe is hoping to bring in either Kieran Tierney of Arsenal or Marc Cucurella of Chelsea on loan before the transfer window closes.

Both left-backs appear surplus to requirements at their respective clubs and in his exclusive this morning Edwards is quite bullish about each of their desires to come to St. James' Park.

It seems any deal would be a loan-to-buy arrangement, though, largely due to the constraints of Financial Fair Play, but also because it would be highly unlikely that either club would be keen to do us a favour with a straight loan.

In an ideal world, Edwards thinks that Howe would also love to bring in another centre-back, but options for a loan-to-buy deal there seem harder to come by. Signing a pure left-back would allow Dan Burn to compete with Sven Botman, which would bolster the head coach's options in the heart of the back four.

From where we're sitting, Tierney would appear to be the prime choice and Arsenal look more likely to do a deal with us than Chelsea, but there's no doubt that Cucurella was tremendous at Brighton before his £60 million move to Stamford Bridge.

If anyone could get him back to his best, it's Howe, and if he was to come then it would surely be with a positive character reference from Burn, who played beside the Spaniard plenty at the Amex.

Here's a reminder of why he commanded such a hefty transfer fee in the first place:

And, for completeness, here's a reel of Tierney's best bits for The Gunners:

If we can get in one defender before the window closes, either a left-back or centre-back, then we're looking in a fantastic place. If injuries are kind, this could be another campaign for the ages.