Newcastle United could pounce for 21-year-old Benfica defender after rejecting move to PIF-owned Al-Hilal

The hunt for defensive reinforcements for Eddie Howe continues as talk around a move for Marc Guehi has gone very quiet since it was revealed that Liverpool have him in their sights.

A new centre-back is a big priority for Newcastle United this summer having missed out on Guehi last year. Newcastle's defence is ageing with only Sven Botman under the age of 30 out of all of Howe's centre-back options.

Who Newcastle are looking to bring in to be the long-term successor to Fabian Schar is anyone's guess at this stage, but names are popping up all the time.

Today, it's the turn of Benfica defender Antonio Silva who has reportedly just rejected a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, who are also owned by the PIF. Newcastle tried last year to sign the Benfica star, and were reportedly looking to try again in January, but never did.

A post on X by Transfer News Live has suggested that Newcastle could be set to make their move for the 21-year-old after turning down Al-Hilal.

The post references A Bola as the source, but the article we found does mention Antonio Silva rejecting Al-Hilal and wanting to remain in Europe, but does not mention Newcastle, so we have to take this with a pinch of salt.

That being said, The Chronicle have referenced him in their transfer discussions, but as for whether the club are genuinely interested remains to be seen.

The young defender has already made 17 appearances for the Portugal's senior side so he's clearly got something about him.

He also made 46 appearances for Benfica last season even contributing two goals and three assists along the way.

It won't come as a surprise to hear that Chelsea also have their eye on Antonio Silva, which could set the scene for a familiar transfer story.

Antonio Silva likely won't come cheap, but he's clearly already very talented, and at just 21 is only likely to get better. We hope there's something to this rumour.