Newcastle are "seriously" interested in signing Everton left-back Lucas Digne this month, according to Pete O'Rourke.
The Frenchman has been a key player for the Toffees since joining from Barcelona in 2018, but is expected to leave in January following a fall out with Rafael Benitez.
And O'Rourke has talked up Newcastle's chances of signing him before the window closes on 31 January.
What's the latest news with Digne?
Digne, valued at £30m, has been first-choice left-back for his entire Toffees career but looks to have played his final game for the club.
He did return to the bench for the defeat to Brighton last time out following three games out of the squad, but the 28-year-old has had a disagreement with Benitez, which led to him being dropped ahead of the Arsenal game in early December.
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Since his exclusion, Digne, who earns £110,000 per-week at Everton, has been strongly linked with Chelsea, whilst Inter Milan, and Napoli are also interested.
Furthermore, Newcastle have bid £22.5m plus Sean Longstaff for the defender's services, and O'Rourke has confirmed that the Magpies are extremely keen on bringing him to St James' Park.
What did O'Rourke say about Digne?
He told GIVEMESPORT: "There is definitely serious interest from Newcastle in Digne. I know they have spoken to his representatives to see if they could do a deal for the Frenchman."
Would Digne be an upgrade on what Newcastle have got?
With Kieran Trippier set to join in the coming days, Digne arriving would suddenly mean that Newcastle have two of the best full-backs around.
Similar to Trippier, Digne possesses impressive crossing ability and is lethal from dead ball situations. In 127 Everton appearances, he's racked up 20 assists, which is slightly more than one every six games.
Digne would go straight into the starting XI and be a serious improvement on what they've currently got in Matt Ritchie and Jamal Lewis, who've been sharing the workload at left-back this season.
If Newcastle can secure deals for both Digne and Trippier and Callum Wilson can get fit, Howe's side have a real chance of avoiding relegation in the second half of the campaign.