Newcastle United could turn to Nottingham Forest loanee Andrey Santos as they search for a potential replacement for Sandro Tonali, according to reports.

Tonoli faces a potentially lengthy ban from football just months after a PS55 million move to St James' Park after he admitted to betting on AC Milan matches while playing for the club. The 23-year-old was withdrawn from Italy's training camp over the international break with Newcastle confirming that he is being supported by the club.

Should a ban come Tonali's way, then it will leave Newcastle looking for replacements when the transfer window opens in January. And according to TEAMtalk , Santos is one of the names on their list of potential targets.

The Chelsea midfielder signed for Forest on a season-long loan in the summer, but has struggled for game time since completing the move. The 19-year-old is yet to make a Premier League appearance for the club with his only minutes coming in the Carabao Cup defeat against Burnley in August.

Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips and Manchester United's Scott McTominay are also said to be on the list for Newcastle, but Santos' situation could mean Chelsea are more willing to do a deal. The one stumbling block could be that Newcastle already have Lewis Hall on loan from Chelsea this season.

That means that either Hall's move is made permanent, or Newcastle agree a permanent move with Chelsea for Santos. The Magpies were said to be interested in the Brazilian before he moved to Chelsea in January.

Any deal would obviously have to see Santos' loan move to Forest cut short, leaving Steve Cooper with one less midfield option. The midfielder is highly regarded by the Forest boss, despite his lack of game time so far this season, with Santos told that he will get minutes.

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