Newcastle United handed golden opportunity to hijack Aston Villa deal after Fabrizio Romano update

Newcastle United were dealt a huge blow by missing out on Abdukodir Khusanov to Manchester City.

The Magpies are still looking to sign a defender after missing out on Marc Guehi in the summer. Newcastle sporting director Paul Mitchell was confident he could land Guehi, but several bids were rejected by Crystal Palace.

Fast forward to the January transfer window and Newcastle looked poised to sign Khusanov from RC Lens before he made the move to Man City.

Khusanov revealed that he snubbed Newcastle to be coached by Pep Guardiola, who he considers “among the best.”

It also looks like Newcastle will miss out on another promising young defender to Man City before the transfer window shuts. Newcastle had thought they led the race for Juma Bah before he made a verbal agreement with the defending Premier League Champions.

Newcastle are still in need of a defender. Now, they have just been handed a huge opportunity to hijack a move for a player who looked set to move to another Premier League club.

• All you need to know about the January transfer window: Isak and Gordon latest as Newcastle linked with exciting forwards
• Newcastle target Loic Bade’s move to Aston Villa stalls
• Sevilla centre-back Loic Bade looked set to join Aston Villa in January after it was reported that the club had begun discussions over a move for the French international. Newcastle were linked with a move for Bade earlier in January after Sevilla slashed his price tag by £30m, but it looked as if Villa were first past the post to land the 24-year-old.
• However, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed that talks between the player and club are not advancing and the deal is on complete standby.