Fabrizio Romano says 'best centre-back in the world' has 'concrete chances' to move this summer with Newcastle United keen

Newcastle United have a desperate need to add quality and depth to their defensive ranks this summer as the frailties of the squad rear their head again.

Jamaal Lascelles hasn't kicked a ball all season, and Sven Botman has been limited to just six appearances. Lewis Hall won't be seen again this season, and Matt Targett just seems to turn up only if he feels like it.

Now, Fabian Schar is carrying a hamstring injury, which means we could see Emil Krafth at centre-back on Saturday.

With a bit of luck, Sven Botman will be available a lot more often next season as will Jamaal Lascelles, but Newcastle would be foolish not to add strength and depth this summer.

Newcastle United have kept an eye on Kim Min-Jae for two years

As Paul Mitchell sets out his targets, he could do a lot worse than South Korean defender Kim Min-Jae, who is expected to leave Bayern Munich this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano, who posted this update via X.

"🚨🇰🇷 Kim Min-jae has concrete chances to leave Bayern in the summer in case of good proposal for both club/player.

"He’s not untouchable, as several clubs in Europe are informed on the situation.

"🇸🇦 Understand Saudi Pro League clubs have also started inquiring about Kim."

Wages could prove to be a huge hurdle for Newcastle

Newcastle were interested in Kim two years ago when he left Napoli for Bayern. At the time, he was being hailed as 'the best centre-back in the world' by his boss at Napoli, Luciano Spalletti.

The 28-year-old may have gone off the boil slightly at Bayern, but he's shown that he has the talent to be successful and perhaps all he needs is a change of scenery and maybe a touch of Eddie Howe magic to get back to where he used to be.

Perhaps the biggest problem Newcastle would face in luring Kim to Tyneside would be his wages. Kim earns more at Bayern (£196k-per-week) than our top earner, Bruno Guimaraes (£160k-per-week), according to Capology, and we doubt we'd have much luck convincing him to take a pay cut, and there's no way Newcastle would bust their wage structure for a defender. They may do it for Alexander Isak, but even he may not end up on as much as Kim Min-Jae is on at Bayern right now.

This could be a case of wishful thinking more than anything that's likely to happen.