Newcastle United are on the lookout for a new midfielder to replace the suspended Sandro Tonali, and Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips has been rumoured to be the priority.

Tonali will not make his return to first-team football until August 2024, so Newcastle are desperately looking to fill that void in the January transfer window.

Fabrizio Romano has very recently claimed on his podcast that the plan is for Phillips to leave Manchester City in the next window and Newcastle look to be the frontrunners.

With the Magpies' current injury crisis, Eddie Howe could do with bringing in as many experienced bodies as possible.

Phillips very close to leaving Man City The PS45m signing looks set to move on from Pep Guardiola's team after just one starting appearance all season which actually came against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.

His move to the Citizens in 2022 just hasn't worked out and the 27-year-old is now very keen to go elsewhere to get regular first-team football.

Romano spoke on his most recent Q&A podcast to suggest that Newcastle are leading the race for Phillips' signature despite interest from Juventus.

"Is Kalvin Phillips close to leaving Manchester City in January? Yes, this remains the plan absolutely. At the moment nothing is changing. Kalvin Phillips wants to play regular football.

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"We have many rumours about Juventus because the director was in England, but they want a more offensive player.

"I would keep an eye on the Premier League market. For example Newcastle, they have to replace Sandro Tonali and Phillips is one of the options."

A loan deal may be the ideal scenario for both City and Newcastle as Howe looks to bring Phillips in as a temporary placeholder until the return of Tonali.

Neither Bruno Guimaraes nor Tonali play the traditional defensive midfielder role, resulting in someone being restricted. Phillips would give Bruno that freedom to be a little bit more creative and perhaps unlock more of his talent.

He hasn't been able to show it at City, but Phillips is exactly the type of player Howe would love to bring to his squad. During his time at Leeds, the midfielder never seemed to tire and worked his way into the England team because of his work ethic and defensive capabilities.