PIF-owned club look set to beat Newcastle United to £30m defender as player opts for Saudi Arabia

Newcastle United still have Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi firmly in their sights this summer as Eddie Howe looks to add bodies to his defensive options.

After last summer's shenanigans, where Crystal Palace strung Newcastle along for most of the window before pulling out of a deal for Marc Guehi, Newcastle have learned their lesson.

While that behaviour hasn't put Newcastle off negotiating with Crystal Palace, they have identified plenty of other backup targets should the Guehi deal not come to pass again.

One player Newcastle have been persistently linked with this summer is Bayern Munich star Kim Min-Jae.

Newcastle United missed out on Kim Min-Jae in 2023

The South Korean was a beast at the back for Napoli, attracting interest from Newcastle back in 2023, but Bayern Munich beat the Magpies to the punch.

Since moving to Munich, Kim Min-Jae hasn't played at the same standard as he did in Italy, and as such, is expected to leave Bayern this summer.

Newcastle had been reportedly keen on the 28-year-old, but if that interest was genuine, they look set to miss out to another PIF-owned club, Al-Nassr, according to Fussball Transfers.

Kim Min-Jae has is eyes on a move to Saudi Arabia

Kim Min-Jae is said to prefer a move to Saudi Arabia over remaining in Europe, and the PIF looks set to get their man one way or another.

In truth, there never seemed to be much weight behind the claims of Newcastle's interest; it felt like a case of a revived story just because it looked like Kim would be on the move.

Given his drop-off since his move from Napoli to the Bundesliga, we'll not lose much sleep if Kim Min-Jae does end up going to Al-Nassr.