Report: Newcastle considering defender from PL rival who has played only one minute this season

One area that Newcastle United failed to strengthen in the summer was at centre-back.

It looked to many fans that we definitely needed a new central defender in the summer in case anything happened to Sven Botman or Fabian Schär.

Our backups looked underwhelming, to say the least, with Jamaal Lascelles next in line then Paul Dummett behind him or a re-jig in defence which would see Dan Burn back in his rightful position.

Jamaal Lascelles has been fantastic this season

Newcastle fans' worst fear was realised early into the season when Botman picked up a knee injury which has kept him out of contention for a while.

Fortunately, though, Jamaal Lascelles has been excellent since he came in to replace the Dutchman, though that hasn't stopped the Magpies looking for a new player in January.

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Indeed, a new report from 90mins has credited Newcastle (and Tottenham) with an interest in Everton defender Ben Godfrey.

Godfrey has fallen down the pecking order at Goodison park under Sean Dyche and has played just one minute of Premier League football this season.

Ben Godfrey almost went to Euro 2020 with England

The £20 million signing from Norwich was selected in the provisional England squad before the last European Championships but ultimately failed to make the final squad.

Godfrey contracted COVID during the pandemic and it massively affected him. Since then, he also missed a huge chunk of last season picking up a broken fibula at the start of the season, but has since made a full recovery.

Newcastle were looking at Godfrey last year too, and it seems he's made it onto their radar again.

Everton fans aren't happy that Godfrey could be on the move

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He's only 25 so has plenty of years left and was on the cusp of representing England at a major tournament, so why's he not getting into that Everton team?

I do a football podcast with an Everton fan and I asked him what he thought of the link, he said he's not happy at all, so it looks like the fans rate him. However, he also said "Tarkowski and Branthwaite have been solid so can’t complain about that" before going on to hammer Dyche for picking Michael Keane ahead of Godfrey.

He also added "Talk from fans saying Godfrey should be playing as a DM which could work. But since COVID hit him he’s not been the same player at all", which looks like a huge cause for concern and could be what scuppers the deal.