Diego Carlos has attracted £30m offers from Newcastle and one other Premier League side; an Italian club have also bid for the Sevilla centre-back but their offer is worth less than the English clubs'; Carlos started Sevilla's La Liga match at Valencia on Wednesday night
Thursday 20 January 2022 10:32, UK
Newcastle are competing with a second Premier League club to secure the signing of Brazilian defender Diego Carlos from Sevilla.
The Magpies are understood to have made a £30m offer for Carlos which has now 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.
Carlos - who was part of Brazil's gold-medal winning squad at last summer's Tokyo Olympics - has told Sevilla he wanted to leave following Newcastle's offer, and the Spanish side are willing to sell 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.
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."
Who will be on the move in January?
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