When looking at Eddie Howe's Newcastle United squad, there are not many problem areas that remain. Those in charge at St James' Park have built a group capable of competing on all fronts and establishing themselves as a consistent Champions League side.
No one's perfect, though, and come the January transfer window, the Magpies have the opportunity to plug the remaining gaps in their side and potentially edge closer and closer to taking a permanent seat among the Premier League's top four. According to reports, helping to solve one of their remaining issues in the January transfer window could be a fellow Premier League defender who has fallen out of favour at his current club.
Newcastle United transfer news
As Sandro Tonali, Lewis Hall and Harvey Barnes came in, among others, Newcastle's centre-back options continued to look slightly depleted. As things stand, Howe has just Sven Botman, Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles to choose from as naturals in the position, whilst occasionally asking Dan Burn or Emil Krafth to fill in.
This means that just a couple of injuries could leave those at St James' Park with an extremely makeshift defensive partnership in what is far from ideal for a side aiming for Champions League qualification.
The January transfer window could solve that problem, however. According to 90min, Newcastle are considering a move for Ben Godfrey, who Everton are open to selling, given that the defender has fallen down Sean Dyche's pecking order at Goodison Park. If Newcastle want to land the central defender, they will reportedly have to battle it out with Tottenham Hotspur, Burnley, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Rangers in a busy race for his signature.
It remains to be seen just how much the England international's club will demand for his sale, especially when considering the fact that Godfrey's price when joining Everton was as high as £20m from Norwich City back in 2020.
"Powerful" Godfrey can solve Newcastle's problem
The fact that Godfrey has England caps to his name and was once worth £20m proves that he is still more than a capable defender who has been unlucky to fall down Dyche's list of options at Everton. Still only 25-years-old, the centre-back still has the chance to regain a Premier League place and potentially even upgrade if Newcastle secure his signature.
The Magpies, with European football to balance, should have more opportunities available for players like Godrey, who would even have the chance to earn a starting spot if he impressed Howe. All parties could be boosted by the fact that Jacob Murphy's agent is the same as Godfrey's, making any deal potentially easier to complete.
He's certainly impressed previous managers, including the legendary Carlo Ancelotti, who said via Football365: “He’s doing really well. What can I say? It was a surprise for me because I knew him, but not a lot and I found a really fantastic defender because he has all the quality that a defender needs.
"He’s powerful, he has a lot of energy, tactically intelligent, really aggressive in the duels and so he can play in different positions and this is really important. He played really well as a left-back when Digne was out and so really pleased to have him in the squad.”