Jason Denayer fancied joining Newcastle United – but still finds himself as a free agent weeks into the 2022-23 season.
Newcastle were always going to sign a new centre back over the summer even after signing Dan Burn in January.
A host of names were linked with filling that role but Newcastle chose to go with another left-footer in Sven Botman.
Botman joins Burn, Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles in a strong set of centre backs for Newcastle, with other targets falling by the wayside.
Jason Denayer fancied joining Newcastle United
One potential signing was centre back Denayer, who is no stranger to the North East having previously been with Sunderland.
Denayer became a first-team regular with Lyon having emerged at Manchester City.
The 27-year-old racked up more than 100 league appearances for Lyon as well as 35 caps for Belgium before seemingly fancying a return to England.
The Chronicle reported in March that Denayer was keen on joining Newcastle on a free transfer.
Newcastle were in the market for a defender and seemingly looked into signing Denayer before eventually going for Botman.
Denayer will have been left disappointed by that decision and even more so now.
The transfer deadline passed without anybody signing Denayer and we’re now almost a couple of weeks on and he still hasn’t found a new club.
A defender of Denayer’s quality should be signed up somewhere but the wait goes on for him.
The World Cup is around the corner and Denayer needs playing time in order to make sure he is in the Belgium squad.
Maybe a Premier League club – such as Wolves – will end up signing Denayer but being on Newcastle’s wish list in Match and staying as a free agent into September is quite the turn.
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