Could be game over: Newcastle 30 y/o will be sweating after Romano's news - opinion

Newcastle United may have just put an end to Paul Dummett’s career at St James’ Park as claims emerge around potentially signing a new left-back.

With safety in the Premier League looking rather secure, with data analytics site FiveThirtyEight giving them just a 4% chance of relegation, you would forgive Newcastle United if they started to pay attention to what the squad is going to look like next season.

And with the wealth that they have at their disposal, they should have mostly have free rein to bring in whoever they want, and according to reports, they have turned their attention to left-back.

According to noted transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Newcastle are taking an interest in Bologna and Scotland defender Aaron Hickey.

The 19-year-old has been a regular for the Italian side this season, racking up 27 appearances for them, chipping in with four goals and one assist in Serie A, whilst he was recently rewarded with his first caps for Scotland during the last international break.

Romano claims that there are ‘other clubs’ monitoring him closely, while according to CalcioMercato, they are Celtic, Manchester City and Burnley. Elsewhere, Tuttosport (via TeamTalk) notes that Aston Villa have also shown an interest in the past.

Whilst Dummett is out of contract in the summer, there is still a chance that he might have been able to convince Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe to give him another chance heading into next season.

The club already look to be set at centre-back with the likes of Dan Burn and Fabian Schar the incumbent pair at the back, with the club also reportedly looking to add to that department in the summer, meaning that the only way Dummett, who hasn’t been a regular under Howe, could possibly make his