According to a recent report from talkSPORT, Newcastle United and West Ham are interested in out-of-contract star Diego Reyes. The 25-year-old is without a club after ending his five-year spell at Porto earlier in the summer, although he has just 47 appearances to show for his time in Portugal, with loan spells at Real Sociedad and Espanyol in recent times underlining his lowly position in the pecking order.

Yet it appears that both Rafa Benitez and Manuel Pellegrini are interested in luring the £4.5 million-rated star (as per Transfermarkt) to the Premier League, but the defender should forget about West Ham and instead opt for Newcastle this summer.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Pellegrini’s Hammers have been extremely busy in the transfer market so far this summer in bringing in several new faces, with the likes of Issa Diop, Jack Wilshere, and Andriy Yarmolenko, to name but a few, making the move to the London Stadium.

Yet it’s the additions of Diop and fellow defender Fabian Balbuena which is likely to be of particular interest to Mexico international Reyes as, alongside the likes of Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, and Declan Rice, Pellegrini’s centre back ranks are now very well stocked.

Thus, it’s difficult to see how 25-year-old Reyes would command regular football at the East London club this season given the plethora of options available to Pellegrini, especially given how impressive 19-year-old Rice was last term, and how great a servant Reid has been to the club over the years.

However, while the centre back ranks at West Ham are full to the brim of genuine quality, it’s arguable that that is not the case at Newcastle, especially were captain Jamaal Lascelles to leave the club amid reported interest from sides higher up the Premier League table.

The 24-year-old played a key part in helping the Magpies avoid relegation last season and as such has attracted interest over the summer, as has fellow centre back Florian Lejeune, who has reportedly been linked with a move to Sevilla.

Yes, both are currently still at St James’ Park with just a few weeks left of the transfer window, but it’s plausible that Benitez could lose his centre back duo ahead of the new season, thus leaving him short in that department given just Ciaran Clark and Paul Dummett would remain at the club.

As such, Reyes would surely get greater first team opportunities in the North East than in East London, which for someone with 55 caps for his country and having spent the best part of five years out of favour at Porto is sure to be of keen interest.

Thus, while West Ham appear to be heading in the right direction, in terms of his footballing progression and first team opportunities, Reyes should forget about them and instead opt for Benitez’s Newcastle.

Newcastle and West Ham fans… what do you think? Let us know!