Newcastle are considering a move for Aston Villa captain John McGinn, Mail Sport can reveal.
Eddie Howe wants his stable of midfield options returned to six after Sean Longstaff was sold to Leeds for £12million.
The head coach, whose side use a 4-3-3 formation, is currently down to just four, with Joe Willock sidelined for between four and six weeks after picking up a foot injury in Singapore last week.
And we can reveal that McGinn is high on Newcastle’s list of targets. The Magpies are yet to make a move on any player in this department, as they concentrate on signing a replacement for want-away striker Alexander Isak, who was excluded by Howe from training with the first-team on Wednesday.