Diego Carlos: Newcastle moving closer to deal for Sevilla defender but face competition from Premier League rival | Transfer Centre News

Newcastle are moving closer to a deal for Diego Carlos but still face competition to sign the Sevilla defender from another Premier League club.

All parties are hopeful a deal can be done for Carlos, who submitted a transfer request on Tuesday but played for Sevilla in their 1-1 draw with Valencia a day later.

Newcastle are understood to have made a £30m offer for the Brazilian defender, but it has been matched by their Premier League rival.

An Italian club have also tabled a bid for the 28-year-old, but it is believed to be worth less than the fee offered by the English sides.

Sevilla are willing to sell Carlos – who was part of Brazil’s gold-medal winning squad at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics – if their asking price is met.

However, Newcastle are unwilling to pay more than they believe Carlos is worth and have other centre-back targets they can pursue.

Despite the speculation, Carlos started for Sevilla in their La Liga match at Valencia on Wednesday night.

The Magpies are keen on Benoit Badiashile, but the Monaco defender’s current injury and his club’s €60m (£49.9m) asking price are significant stumbling blocks to any deal.

Newcastle are also interested in Attila Szalai, although AC Milan are also tracking the Fenerbahce defender, who would cost around €20m (£16.6m).

The Premier League side also made offers for Sven Botman this month, but have so far not matched Lille’s £36m asking price.

Eddie Howe’s desire to improve his defence is understandable, with Newcastle having conceded 43 goals in 20 Premier League games this season. Only Norwich have a worse defensive record.

Leicester City, meanwhile, are not interested in a deal for Diego Carlos. Manager Brendan Rodgers is reconsidering his plans to target a centre back on loan in January – partly because the squad’s injury problems are easing, and partly because Leicester’s recruitment team are struggling to find a player of the right profile.

‘Carlos doing everything possible to make Toon deal happen’

Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:

“Diego Carlos is thinking that if I’m the one Newcastle want to sign and I know they really want me, then I’m going to have to do everything possible to make this deal happen so I need to tell Sevilla officially that I want to leave.

“It’s been reported in Spain that Carlos may have a release clause of around €80m (£67m).

“Newcastle are arguably the richest club in the world but they won’t want to pay over the odds and have other targets.

“I don’t think Carlos would move just for the money. Of course the financial package on offer has to be right. He knows Newcastle are building something and they have the finances to build something as well.”

Follow the January transfer window with Sky Sports

Who will be on the move in January?

The January transfer window opens on Saturday January 1, 2022 and closes at 11pm on Monday January 31.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports’ digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.

Follow Newcastle United with Sky Sports

Follow every Newcastle game in the Premier League this season with our live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch match highlights for free shortly after full-time.

Want the Newcastle latest? Bookmark our Newcastle news page, check out Newcastle’s fixtures and Newcastle’s latest results, watch Newcastle goals and video, keep track of the Premier League table and see which Newcastle games are coming up live on Sky Sports.

Get all this and more – including notifications sent straight to your phone – by downloading the Sky Sports Scores app and setting Newcastle as your favourite team.

Hear the best Premier League reaction and expert analysis with the Essential Football and Gary Neville podcasts, keep up-to-date with our dedicated Transfer Centre, follow the Sky Sports social accounts on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and find out how to get Sky Sports.