20 English Players Newcastle Should Sign This Summer

5. Ben Gibson

Age: 22 Position: Centre-Back/Full-Back Current Club: Middlesbrough (2010-) Previous Clubs: Plymouth Argyle (loan, 2011), York City (loan, 2012), Tranmere Rovers (loan, 2012-13 and 2013-14) Estimated Market Value: £10 million League Appearances (Goals) 2014-15: 36 (0) England Under-21 Caps (Goals): 10 (0)

If Newcastle decide they want to bid for Ben Gibson then they will have to join the end of an extremely-long queue - because the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City have already been linked to the Middlesbrough centre-back. A Boro youth product, Gibson starred for Aitor Karanka's men as they narrowly missed out on automatic promotion and then agonisingly lost in the Champions play-off final. With Gibson shining at centre-back, Boro conceded a Championship-low 37 goals in 2014-15 (during the regular season) and that helped Karanka's men to the brink of the Premier League. Already capped 10 times by England Under-21s, and having played 136 times in the league to date, the 6ft 1in defender is young but pretty experienced. What's more, although primarily a centre-back, Gibson can also operate at full-back if necessary, versatility that the Newcastle board will like. Should the Magpies be willing to part with £10 million this summer, then they could sign a centre-back who could play at the heart of the Newcastle defence right through until the mid-2020s.