Newcastle are joined by Southampton in the race for Semedo

Newcastle face competition from Southampton for the signing of Ruben Semedo.

According to a report in The Sun the Sporting Lisbon defender is being viewed as a potential replacement for Virgil van Dijk at St Mary’s.

Newcastle had a £10m bid with £2.5m in add ons knocked back by Sporting who are hoping to raise £17.5m from selling the defender.

Rafa Benitez is moving quickly to bring in the players that he requires to ensure that Newcastle are playing for a place in the top half of the table when they return to the Premier League.

The Newcastle boss is putting together a new spine to his side with talks underway to sign Pepe Reina from Napoli and Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham coming in on loan.

Southampton have been adamant that they won’t sell van Dijk but seem certain to be hit with bids in excess of £50m.

If van Dijk asks for a transfer the situation changes with Semedo lined up as a ready made replacement.