Newcastle Transfers: 7 Centre-Backs Pardew Must Consider Signing

3. James Tomkins

Current Club: West Ham Arguably the least illustrious of the names on this list, West Ham defender Tomkins would nonetheless be a good and crucially affordable option to boost the options at centre-half. He is undoubtedly a more intelligent footballer than Steven Taylor and his Premier League experience would probably also push him ahead of Yanga-Mbiwa in the pecking order. Crucially, Tomkins was West Ham's most important defender (and one of their most important players overall) last term, making 345 defensive actions, which put him at number 13 for the most defensive actions made by any player in the Premier League. The Concerns Tomkins is just too valuable to West Ham to make him available for anything other than a high transfer fee. He was their key defender last year