Fabrizio Romano has now given a transfer update that Newcastle United fans aren't going to like

Newcastle United look to have been beaten to their first transfer target of the winter window by a Premier League rival.

Reports have been doing the rounds in the lead-up to the transfer window opening that Newcastle were interested in 21-year-old Romanian centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa.

The former Juventus defender, once described by Andrea Pirlo as "physically very strong" looked to be the perfect fit for Newcastle. Young, quick, strong but with experience already.

Dragusin looks to be Premier League bound but not with Newcastle

However, it now looks like Dragusin may be headed for a different Premier League club this month.

Fabrizio Romano has now claimed that talks are underway between have already taken place between Tottenham and Dragusin and all that remains are the negotiations between Genoa and Spurs with the latter being confident of a deal being done.

So that now leaves Newcastle needing to find another target to strengthen that position.

Romano's tweet, x, post, whatever, mentioned Jean-Clair Todibo who was also on Newcastle's radar, but there's not really been anything to suggest any movement on that one.

Centre-back isn't the most important issue right now

The weekend saw reports resurfacing about a move for Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen but that report also came with a ridiculous price tag.

As evidenced again last night in the battering by Liverpool. it's a central defensive midfielder we need more than anything right now. We have nobody who is breaking up counter attacks from the midfield. Once teams get beyond our midfield it's an all-out assault on our defenders and it rarely ends well.

Another centre back could help with that, sure, but a CDM is a must. The Kalvin Phillips rumours won't go away so there must be some truth in them, and if there is, and it has been going on this long, why isn't the deal done? We can't afford to play games in this window. Change needs to happen now.