10 Players Newcastle Should Break Their Transfer Record For

9. Aymen Abdennour

Age: 25 Club: Monaco Nationality: Tunisian Estimated Market Value: £16 million League Apps (2014-15): 18 There have been links between Aymen Abdennour and Newcastle United this summer and Tottenham reportedly made a £21.5 million bid earlier this year. Abdennour is a no-nonsense defender who is powerful, ruthless and unforgiving. He actively looks to break-up opposition attacks at the earliest moment and distribute the ball to the midfielders in order to pursue a counter attack. The 25-year-old is clinical in the air and, although his positional skills can be questionable at times, he has the pace to recover. He only played 18 times last season as he suffered the same hamstring injury twice, which kept him out for around two months - but he was exceptional during each of those matches. The defender who has claimed he is "ready to play for Barcelona" is valued between £20 million-25 million and although the Catalan club are leading the race to sign him, Newcastle could test Monaco and put in the asking price while Luis Enrique stalls.