As Newcastle United ready themselves for their first Champions League campaign in two decades, excitement levels have well and truly ramped up this week.
Amid talk that deals are being worked on for Sandro Tonali and Federico Dimarco, of AC Milan and Inter Milan respectively, it appears a new centre-back could also be incoming at St James' Park.
Are Newcastle interested in signing Joachim Andersen?
The Daily Mail reports that Newcastle have enquired about Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen, who has been a Premier League regular at Selhurst Park for the past two seasons, having also impressed in his solitary season with Fulham.
Andersen is considered one of the finest defenders outside of the top six clubs and still has three years to run on his contract, though Football Observatory suggests he could be available for £13m this summer.
That is potentially a sticking point, however, with the report suggesting Newcastle are waiting to hear back on Palace's true valuation for the 23-cap Denmark international
Is Joachim Andersen a good option for Newcastle United?
Fabian Schar and Sven Botman were Newcastle's most-used central defenders last season, with the latter's 6.7 rating by WhoScored the same as that of Andersen. That gives a rough indication of the Dane's quality, though may not exactly get Newcastle supporters' pulses racing.
Andersen ranked particularly highly for touches last season, with The Analyst placing him in the top 14% of all defenders across Europe's top five leagues, showing he is comfortable with the ball at his feet.
In fact, Andersen is very alike to another ball-paying defender in Manchester City's Ruben Dias. According to FBref's player comparison tool, Dias is the eighth-most similar centre-back to the 27-year-old in terms of their statistical profile.
That includes metrics such as touches per 90 minutes in the defensive third (39.9 for Andersen, 39.7 for Dias), dribblers challenged (0.52 v 0.50) and blocks (0.91 v 0.95).
Dias is unquestionably the better passer, completing 92.7% of his passes to Andersen's 79.2%, but only three others in the Premier League can better the Spaniard in that regard.
Besides, Andersen shines in other areas, such as aerial duels won per 90 minutes (2.82 v 1.98) and goals scored (one compared to Dias' zero last season).
Assuming Newcastle do not want to spend £90m on Dias – and that Man City would cash in to a serious rival – handing over a more reasonable sum for Andersen seems a smart choice.
While he may not be the biggest of names, Robbie Earle summed it up well when labelling Andersen as "underappreciated". Should a move to Newcastle go through, that will surely not be the case for much longer.