Report: Newcastle monitoring Rio Ave defender Toni Borevkovic

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Newcastle United are reportedly one of a few teams interested in signing Rio Ave defender Toni Borevkovic.

According to a report from A Bola, the Croatian centre-half is being tracked by Blackburn Rovers and Bournemouth, as well as German sides Borussia Monchengladbach, Wolfsburg and Augsburg.

Borevkovic, 22, has been enjoying some excellent form over in the Portuguese top flight this season despite his club being rock bottom of the table.

The imposing 6ft 4in star has been with Rio since the summer of 2018, and has a contract until 2023.

Apparently it’s Blackburn who currently lead the chase for Borevkovic, but perhaps there will be time for Newcastle to steal a march with just over a week left to go in the transfer window.

The link is somewhat surprising given Newcastle have been fairly solid defensively again this term, but Federico Fernandez is 30 and the club may need to start thinking about younger options.

TBR’s view – Newcastle should wait

At this moment in time, Newcastle don’t need to be thinking about defensive additions.

They’ve looked quite good at the back so far, with Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Florian Lejeune and Fernandez all solid options.

With Rio fighting relegation it might be in Newcastle’s best interests to wait until the summer.

The likelihood is that the Portuguese side won’t want to lose their best defender, and if they do go down then theoretically it’d make a deal easier.