Newcastle United told to hijack £13m deal for Tottenham Hotspur target amid injury scare

Just over 48 hours before Newcastle United kicked off against Liverpool, Eddie Howe told <em>NewcastleWorld</em> that “unless something happens to a couple of players in one position before the window shutting, we won’t be adding to the squad.” But what happened late on at St James’ Park on Sunday has the potential to alter the club’s thinking ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.

Don’t worry, this isn’t to remind you of the scoreline, nor spark a debate on what other positions could do with strengthening. I’m focusing solely on the centre of defence after Sven Botman limped off with a nasty-looking ankle injury. That said, the early signs are that the Dutchman has avoided any serious damage, with a few weeks on the sidelines the worst-case scenario.

Feasibly, with the Champions League not beginning until mid-September, Newcastle could get by without Botman for that amount of time. But if the 23-year-old or centre-back partner Fabian Schar were to get injured when the two-game-a-week schedule kicks in, there’s an argument to say United are taking a little bit of a gamble heading deeper in the campaign.

Beyond Schar and Botman lie Jamaal Lascelles and Dan Burn who, although has played the last 12 months or so at left-back, is direct cover to the latter. At left-back, Howe has Lewis Hall and Matt Targett, while Paul Dummett can fill in both positions, but is more suited to centre-back these days.

Now, I’m sure supporters, including myself, would be very excited by a late move for Benfica’s Antonio Silva or Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba but the indications are Newcastle don’t have the budget to reach such high fees have spent £130million already, and delayed paying the initial £28m for Lewis Hall until next summer.

How much is left in the budget? Well, that hasn’t been entirely made clear. But one cut-price option that springs to mind for me is Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo, a player who was under consideration at Newcastle last summer and has remained of minor interest since.

The former England youth international has trained alone this week after informing the Cottagers of his desire to leave. There have been suggestions that the 25-year-old, who is into the final year of his contract, is available for around £13m with Monaco hoping to beat Tottenham Hotspur to his signature in the next 48 hours.

Admittedly, Newcastle would have to act immediately if they wanted Adarabioyo. But generally speaking, it’d make a lot of sense if they did. Having emerged from Manchester City’s academy, Adarabioyo has just under 60 Premier League appearances to his name and a Championship winners medal.

He may not be a long-term solution as such but at present is low-cost and low-risk for a backline that feels a body light. Composed on the ball, similar to Schar and Botman, there are plenty of reasons to believe Adarabioyo fits Howe’s style.