Newcastle United are totting up the column inches in the Italian newspapers once again this week after being linked with two of Serie A's biggest stars this week.
First up, South Korea international Kim Min-jae is being heavily linked with Newcastle United with the defender being touted to the Premier League. Both Newcastle and Manchester United have featured as possible destinations over in Italy this week.
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Whether it is agent-driven remains to be seen but the centre-back who has just helped Napoli to their first title in Serie A since 1990 has a minimum fee release clause that has gained the interest of possible suitors. There is talk on the Man United circuit that it will be Old Trafford where the 26-year-old will play next season and suggestions the Red Devils have already found him a house.
Yet Newcastle have also been mentioned and with a £42million release clause in place, the right-footed centre-half is thought to be a player Eddie Howe admires and United would have the financial muscle to unlock a move. Within days of the news of the defender's clause emerging, Serie A champions Napoli were briefing they could remove the escape option and talk of a new deal surfaced.
But Min-jae's head may already be turned given the levels of coverage this story has already attracted. Of course, Fabian Schar had a terrific season last term and was one of the cornerstones for success in qualifying for the Champions League so it's not exactly a move Newcastle must make.
But Howe was not afraid to freshen things up last summer when signing Sven Botman to play alongside Schar and he won't shirk the chance to increase competition for places this window either. The South Korea star's arrival, or any player of the same experience and quality, would be interesting for the Newcastle back four.
After all, Howe settled with Kieran Trippier, Schar, Botman and Dan Burn for the majority of the 2022/23 season. With Newcastle also keen on Kieran Tierney of Arsenal, a defensive shake-up would make for intriguing viewing for supporters.
But it isn't just stories of defensive links we're seeing in Italy at the moment. The pages of Corriere dello Sport on Friday linked Newcastle to one of Serie A's major stars in Federico Chiesa.
Chiesa, a star of Euro 2020 with Italy, is unsettled with Juventus and Newcastle were listed alongside Liverpool as possible suitors for the son of ex-Lazio and Parma ace Enrico. A fee of between €35m-€45m is expected for the winger according to reports in Italy today.
Another winger Newcastle have been linked with is Dejan Kulusevski who has spent the last two seasons at Spurs. The Sweden star gave United a torrid time in the 5-1 win for Spurs in 2022.
He is now returning to Juventus after his loan deal in North London but after the possibility of a move to Tyneside was put to his agent they politely declined to comment on the prospect of signing for Newcastle. It's clear that United will be an easy target for agents across Europe this summer and slipping Newcastle's name in might strike fear into rival clubs when it comes to certain deal.
Undoubtedly, Newcastle will sign quality players this summer but the number of deals will be a small fraction of the hundreds of names already linked. That doesn't mean all of them aren't genuine, there will be enquiries, offers of unhappy stars to Newcastle and near misses.
However, it should be seen as a positive that Newcastle are appearing on the pages of newspapers across the world again. So often under previous management the club shut shop early in transfer windows, but on and off the field United are trying hard to improve in every department.
