Newcastle United rumoured to be interested in two-time Serie A winning defensive stalwart this month
Eddie Howe could do with bringing in a new face or two to give his Newcastle United side more depth, particularly in defence, where the gaffer is dealing with a lot of injuries.
The transfer window is open, and Newcastle are said to be leaning towards making some moves this month after originally hoping to keep their powder dry.
However, one thing the club have been very clear about is that they won't be making any long-term signings to fix short-term problems, meaning they aren't going to go out and buy a defender to cover the injury crisis and then end up being lumbered with a player for years that they only needed for months.
One obvious way around that would be to sign a player on loan until the end of the season, which is what they may be looking to do.
Newcastle United are keen on signing veteran Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij
The rumour mill this weekend has been spewing out some strange stuff, but this one won't seem to go away. Newcastle are thought to be ready to sign Inter Milan defender Stefan de Vrij, who turns 34 next month.
Nottingham Forest and Newcastle are eyeing a move for the Netherlands veteran after his move to Al-Hilal fell through last week, according to Football Insider.
Stefan de Vrij has been one of the best defenders in Serie A over recent years and would certainly bring plenty of pedigree if he were to move to Tyneside.
Even as a desperate move, this one makes little sense
We're not buying it for a second, though. Even as a loan move, this one doesn't make much sense to us.
De Vrij would be ineligible to play in the Champions League for a start, so that makes the whole thing pretty pointless right off the jump. He's also 34, and our aim is to bring down the average age of the defence, although with this potentially being a loan move, that's not as big a deal.
However, the biggest red flag for us is simply the origin of the story. Football Insider's track record isn't exactly glowing. It's a nice thought having someone of Stefan de Vrij's calibre come on board, but the second you look beyond the name and at the facts, it starts to unravel pretty quickly.
