Newcastle now eyeing move for "sensational" £60m dynamo, he'd be their next Dan Burn - opinion

Newcastle United have been linked with a summer swoop for Sevilla defender Jules Kounde.

According to a recent report from Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), the Magpies have joined the likes of Barcelona and fellow Premier League side Chelsea in the race to sign the centre-back this summer.

The player has a release clause of €90m (£76.7m) but Seville may well settle for a fee of around €70m (£60m).

As a product of Bordeaux’s youth system, the defender made 70 senior appearances for the French club before he then made the move to Spain in the 2019 summer transfer window.

Having joined Sevilla in a deal worth €25m (£21.3m), the 23-year-old has gone on to make 133 appearances for the La Liga club across all competitions, chipping in with nine goals and three assists in the process.

This season saw the centre-back make 32 league appearances for his current club in which he showed how much of a capable defender he is.

In those appearances, Kounde racked up more interceptions (55) than any other Sevilla player, as well as the second-highest number of clearances (114) in addition to the 41 blocks he made and the 22 tackles he won.

Labelled as a “sensational” player by journalist Marcus Bring, it highlights just how highly rated he is at his club, who won’t be letting him go on the cheap this summer.

Despite the difference in height, age and the amount of experience of playing in English football, the Sevilla defender could well be Newcastle’s next version of Dan Burn in terms of the impact he could have on the Toon after his arrival in the previous January transfer window.

After signing Burn from Brighton & Hove Albion at the end of January, the Tyneside club then went on to only lose five league games, having won just once