Newcastle ‘set their sights’ on player with rich PL experience – His future with club is ‘still to be written’

On December 20th, we carried a report from TuttoMercatoWeb, who explained that an ‘enquiry’ from Newcastle United had been made for Sampdoria’s Maya Yoshida.

Having spent over seven years at Southampton, the defender initially joined the Serie A side on a loan deal in January 2020 and his stay was made permanent later that summer.

The centre-back signed a one-year deal before signing an extension at the start of this year. His current deal expires at the end of the season and the 32-year-old’s ‘future is still to be written’, even though the Japan international remains vital for manager Roberto D’Aversa.

This is according to SampNews24, who say the two parties have not yet reached an agreement over a new deal. The situation has alerted other clubs, resulting in interest from elsewhere.

Qatari side Al-Gharafa SC came forward and following their interest, Newcastle have now ‘set their sights’ on the central defender.

The website doesn’t make it clear whether Eddie Howe’s side are looking at the player with rich Premier League [154 league matches for Southampton] experience for January or next summer.