Report: Newcastle's Dynamic Duo dream at risk as Magpies to be outbid by Italian side for Spanish defender

Last night it emerged that Newcastle United were launching a £26 million bid for Real Sociedad defender Robin Le Normand.

The thought of Newcastle eventually lining up with Botman and Robin in defence had our geek nerves tingling, even though we'd have to wait until next year before that would become a reality while Sven Botman recovers from ACL surgery.

Newcastle were said to have already put together a proposal that would see them outbidding Atletico Madrid by €10million (£8.5million) which is a good start to negotiations.

The Magpies need defensive reinforcements above anything else this summer with Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles to miss the first half of the next campaign in a defence that was already stretched when at full health.

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Napoli currently lead the bidding war by just £1.7million

Robin Le Normand looks like a relatively cheap but impressive option with the nine-times capped Spain international potentially a snip at around £26million, but now it looks like the Magpies could be outbid by Serie A champions Napoli.

According to Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), Napoli are set to offer €2million (£1.7million) more than Newcastle for the defender.

It would be a huge sucker punch for Newcastle to miss out by such a small margin, but the good news it it's early days and Newcastle could still easily match Napoli's bid.

Come on, this opportunity is too good to miss, make it happen PIF

On top of that, the player's preference may be to move to the Premier League over Serie A and that could swing it.

We're not out of the running yet with so much time to go before the transfer window even opens.

There's still hope for Botman and Robin. Oh man, if only Gotham Town was still open in the Toon.