According to Tuttosport (via Football Italia), Inter Milan are plotting a summer move for Newcastle United centre-back Fabian Schar as the Italian giants look to strengthen their defence going forward.
The Serie A powerhouse are monitoring several defenders whose contracts expire in June 2021, and the Magpies man is among those on their radar.
Inter’s CEO Beppe Marotta wants to strengthen the club’s defensive department with their finances in mind, and it’s why he has identified Schar, Napoli’s Nikola Maksimovic, Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi, Real Betis’ Alissa Madi and Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng as options.
Schar joined Newcastle from Deportivo La Coruna in July 2018, signing a three-year contract after the Toons activated the £3 million buy-out clause in his contract.
The Switzerland international has since played 67 games for the St. James’ Park outfit, with eight of those coming in 2020-21.
Schar has an extra year’s option on his existing deal at SJP, but he could turn the option down should the likes of Inter come calling.
Antonio Conte’s side will be offering the 28-year-old the chance to play in the Champions League and regularly challenge for the league title and other trophies, and it would be hard for anyone to turn such a club down should they come calling.
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were both linked with the Newcastle centre-back in March 2019 and had reportedly had him on their radar since his days at Basel.
While the North London duo have moved on, Schar won’t be short of options in the summer once he becomes a free agent given his quality and experience.
Talks were held between Newcastle and Schar’s agent in order to discuss a new deal during the summer, but no agreement was reached.
Some Italian clubs were reportedly keen on him at the time, and the club were willing to sell him for around £11 million.
That didn’t happen and he could agree a deal with a foreign club next month ahead of leaving for nothing next summer.
Inter will surely be keeping an eye on how things go, and it could come as a surprise if he decides to remain at Newcastle beyond the end of the season.
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