Pete Graves: 3 players now "under serious consideration" for NUFC, it'll delight Howe - opinion

A fresh Newcastle United transfer claim has been made on the club’s efforts to sign a centre-back before the end of the January transfer window, with Dan Burn on the verge of a move to Tyneside.

Sky Sports reporter Pete Graves has revealed names of three other defenders the Magpies are interested in, whilst teasing that they may not be the only ones on Eddie Howe’s wishlist.

He Tweeted: “Once #nufc announce #BrunoGuimaraes signing they’ll push ahead with the centre back. Three under serious consideration! Two bids rejected so far Dan Burn. Others they’ve tracked are Carlos, Botman, Badiashile. Or might another emerge?”

Howe will surely be delighted with this news for several reasons.

Firstly, it shows that the club are looking to bring in a central defender and he will be buzzing with this as the Magpies have been dreadful defensively this season. They have let in 43 goals in 21 games in the Premier League, with Norwich (45) the only side who can boast a worse record in the division.

Howe’s men have only kept two clean sheets so far this season and they both cam in the club’s only two wins – against Leeds and Burnley. This shows that the defensive is in dire need of improvement, which is why he will be buzzing to see that it is set to be looked at.

The ex-Bournemouth coach will also be happy with the calibre of players being targeted. Dan Burn is a proven Premier League performer, with an average SofaScore rating of 6.96 this term, and could be able to hit the ground running as he knows what it takes to perform in the English top-flight, which is why his arrival could be a great start to solving the problem.

However, they could look to add another player into the mix. Sven Botman and Diego Carlos have been excelling in