Newcastle United explored signing Denis Zakaria but a deadline day deal for the Juventus man isn’t looking likely.
The Magpies tied up their big summer signing last week as Alexander Isak arrived from Real Soceidad in a club-record deal.
Isak has been added to Nick Pope, Sven Botman and Matt Targett in terms of Newcastle’s recruitment this summer, which has been very positive.
Another midfielder would be ideal though, potentially to play in a defensive role to allow Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton to go forward.
Newcastle United explored signing Denis Zakaria
A number of names have been mentioned for that role, from Ainsley Maitland-Niles to Leander Dendoncker.
Yet one name that hasn’t really been talked about is that of Juventus ace Denis Zakaria, as well as Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Zakaria, 25, only joined Juventus in the January transfer window as he made a cut-price move from Borussia Monchengladbach.
The Swiss international had excelled in Germany, with former Gladbach boss Marco Rose describing him as ‘very complete’.
Zakaria was inside the final six months of his contract and Juve were more than happy to bring him in.
Yet after just 15 appearances for the Turin giants, Juventus are trying to offload Zakaria before tonight’s deadline.
The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope now reports that Newcastle have been making calls to try and sign a midfielder and one of them was Zakaria.
Hope notes that a deal is unlikely there, but Zakaria would certainly represent an interesting signing for the Magpies.
A tall anchor man at 6ft 3in tall, Zakaria also has the mobility to get forward when needed and still has some untapped potential.
Zakaria may be one to keep on the radar for January if Juventus don’t offload him today, with Newcastle seemingly looking at other targets for now.
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