Newcastle, Liverpool And West Ham Target "One Of Best Defenders In Europe"

Newcastle United have identified "one of the best defenders in Europe" as a prime transfer target this summer - at least in the humble opinion of Aymen Abdennour's agent. Speaking in Italy, Abdelkader Jilani has been touting around his player in order to start a bidding war for Abdennour from some of Europe's top sides. Reports last week claimed that the Magpies had opened the expected bidding war for the centre-back by offering ‚17 million (£12 million) for the Tunisian international, something Abdennour's agent denied - and Monaco want north of £15 million anyway.

The 25-year-old centre-back has been on Newcastle€™s radar for several seasons having impressed at Toulouse and then Monaco in Ligue 1 but there are a long list of suitors queuing up to entice him away from the Stade Louis II - including Arsenal, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan. Speaking to Italian site Calciomercato, Jilani said of his player:

€œAbdennour is one of the best defenders on the European stage and it's only natural he is admired. "There were some proposals from England and Spain, while in Italy there were only enquiries - so no official offer on the table or negotiations in progress. "At the moment he has a contract with Monaco, so anyone who wants him must speak to the Principality club. They deserve respect. "What I can say right now is there there is nothing concrete with Italian clubs - Italy is an option, but the right offer must come in."

Capped 33 times by Tunisia, Abdennour is regarded as one of the most-consistent defensive performers in France - although it is also believed he has already made it to clear to Newcastle that he is not interested in moving to the North East. Having helped Monaco to third place in the table and to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Abdennour€™s agent revealed a couple of weeks ago that the defender could look to move on should there be interest. Newcastle, Arsenal and Everton are just a few of the Premier League sides who would love to bring him to England for next season. The 6ft 2in centre-back started his career at ‰toile du Sahel in his native Tunisia, spending six months on loan at Werder Bremen in 2010, before moving to Toulouse in 2011. A transfer to Monaco then followed last summer after an impressive six-month loan spell. In all he has made 140 league appearances, scoring eight times. For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow whatculture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.