Shields Gazette journalist Liam Kennedy has predicted that Newcastle United will look to sign another centre-back in the remaining weeks of the window. 

The lowdown

Newcastle confirmed on Monday that 21-year-old defender Kell Watts was heading out on loan to League One Wigan Athletic.

Back in mid-July, The Athletic's Chris Waugh reported that a 'ball-playing centre back' was on the Magpies' list of priorities.

Kristoffer Ajer had been the top target but he instead joined Brentford, while a move for former Liverpool loanee Ozan Kabak is likely to be deemed too expensive.

Newcastle also baulked at the money involved in a loan move for Manchester United's Axel Tuanzebe, with Aston Villa securing his services (via Football Insider).

The latest

In a tweet after Monday's development on Watts, Kennedy pointed out that Steve Bruce currently has Federico Fernandez, Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Emil Krafth, Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett and Isaac Hayden ('if needed') available as centre-back options.

He 'suspects that they'll still look to add another' option capable of slotting into Bruce's 3-5-2 formation.

The verdict

Newcastle's transfer budget has been described as 'meagre' and they could be about to spend in excess of £20million on the signing of Joe Willock. As such, it wouldn't be a surprise if any centre-back arrived either on loan or as a free transfer.

On paper, they appear to have an abundance of options, but perhaps it's a question of quality rather than quantity.

Newcastle conceded 62 Premier League goals last season, just one fewer than bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United, so a improvement is certainly needed at the back, where a new arrival may be expected to partner Lascelles and one of Schar or Clark.

In other news, Kieran Maguire has slammed these 'ridiculous' Newcastle figures.