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Newcastle United have ‘launched a real offensive’ for Borussia Monchengladbach defender Matthias Ginter.

That’s according to Calciomercato, who say the Magpies are now working hard to bring the centre-back to the club in the January transfer window.

Ginter is out of contract with the Bundesliga side in the summer, and with no new deal likely to be signed, that puts them in a precarious situation.

He will be free to talk to clubs in Europe about a free transfer next summer once the January transfer window opens, leaving Gladbach facing the prospect of losing a key player for nothing.

That is something they will want to avoid, opening the door for any interested parties to perhaps get Ginter for a reduced fee.

Newcastle have been named as one of the interested parties, with it believed Eddie Howe has made improving their leaky defence one of his main priorities for the January window.

CM now report that they have ‘launched a real offensive’ in the ‘last few hours’ to secure Ginter’s signature ahead of the competition.

The website says that Inter Milan had been considering signing the German on a free for several weeks, but that is now more difficult as Newcastle have made their move and are ready to ‘snap up’ the 27-year-old.

There is no mention of the offer they have put on the table, but it is made clear it’s a serious one, and they want a deal done in January, not the summer.

That means there’ll have to be some sort of transfer fee involved, something we’re sure will appear sooner rather than later.