Aurelio Buta has been linked with three Premier League clubs so far – Newcastle United, Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Newcastle United are interested in Royal Antwerp right-back Aurelio Buta, according to the Birmingham Mail, with Steve Bruce’s side joining Watford, Wolverhampton Wanderers and a number of Championship clubs in the £5 million transfer battle.
Three months into the 2019/20 season, it is still unclear who is Newcastle’s first-choice right-back. DeAndre Yedlin is good going forward but poor defensively, Javi Manquillo is good defensively but poor going forward, and Emil Krafth has found himself stuck on the bench after a difficult start to life at St James’ Park.
And, just to add to the confusion, the Magpies are now being tipped to sign another right-sided defender in the New Year. The Birmingham Mail report that Buta, an attack-minded full-back who joined Antwerp from Benfica in 2017, has plenty of admirers on Tyneside.
This comes after The Mail broke the news that Wolves and Watford were interested in signing the £5 million-rated former Portugal U20 international during the January transfer window.
The chances are that Buta would replace Manquillo in Newcastle’s squad with the Mirror (5 November, page 50) claiming that the former Liverpool and Atletico Madrid stopper will be allowed to leave with his contract due to expire at the end of the season.
Buta has three assists to his name already this season and his attacking style is likely to make him a far better fit than Manquillo for Bruce’s preferred wing-back system.
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