Newcastle now learn asking price for 26-year-old England defender - £42m could seal the deal

Newcastle United continue to look for another defender to join Lloyd Kelly as a fresh face at St James' Park this summer with one target standing out above the others for many fans.

Eddie Howe will be missing Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman until the New Year so defensive reinforcements were a must for Newcastle this summer hence the rapid move to bring in Lloyd Kelly after his Bournemouth contract expired.

However, after a similar move for Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo bore no fruit, the Magpies have had to switch tact and are now looking at buying a new centre-back for their upcoming campaign.

One player Newcastle have on their radar at the moment is England defender Fikayo Tomori of AC Milan.

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AC Milan will want a bid of at least £38million to even begin negotiations for Fikayo Tomori

It's not the first time Tomori has been linked with Newcastle and after his performances against us the Champions League last season, he's been on our wish list ever since.

Calciomercato have claimed that AC Milan could be willing to sell Tomori if the right offer came in, somewhere in the region of €40m-€50m (£33.8m-£42m), but as yet there have been no official bids made of any sort.

The problem Newcastle will face is that Tomori doesn't seem overly keen on the move to Tyneside, feeling that it would currently be a step down from where he's at.

Newcastle are going to struggle to land their top targets this summer

It's an understandable viewpoint given that Milan will once again compete in the Champions League next season while Newcastle missed out on any form of European competition.

That's a fact that's likely going to stifle Newcastle a lot this summer as they look to build a team of Champions League-level stars with no Champions League football to offer them.

If Newcastle feel they can convince Tomori otherwise, we're sure they'll give it their best shot, but we don't see this one happening unfortunately, which is a shame as he'd be the perfect signing.