Newcastle now looking to Italy for £25m former bricklayer to shore up defence next season

Newcastle United are continuing their hunt for a new centre-back after missing out on Tosin Adarabioyo earlier this summer.

While the Magpies managed to bag Lloyd Kelly, they lost out on Tosin at the last minute as he opted to remain in London and sign for Chelsea.

Since then Newcastle have been on the hunt for another centre-back with some big names being linked that, frankly, seem out of our reach such as Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori.

Now though, there's a name that has popped up in a report from Italian outlet Gazzetto dello Sport that could be a possibility.

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Federico Gatti's rise has garnered a lot of attention

Juventus centre-back Federico Gatti has reportedly caught Newcastle's eye and it's believed the Magpies are weighing up a £20million-£25million bid for the 26-year-old.

Gatti who, before working his way up the Italian football ladder, was a bricklayer by day and a semi-pro footballer by night, has worked hard to get to one of the top clubs in Italy, even picking up three International caps along the way. He is part of Italy's Euro 2024 squad but has yet to make an appearance.

His rise to the top is so impressive that The Athletic did a deep dive on him in December last year.

Last season he made 32 appearances for Juve in Serie A and even contributed four goals.

Gatti likes to get involved in the attack like Schar

Gazzetta believe that a bid of €30million (£25million) would test Juve's resolve and could prompt them to sell Gatti this summer, although they would definitely prefer to keep him.

Gatti looks like an interesting prospect and by the sounds of it is very much like Fabian Schar in that he loves to roam forward and get involved in the attack.

We're not sure how much truth is in the report but we are certainly intrigued by this one.