Newcastle eye bold move for Aston Villa captain John McGinn as Eddie Howe targets midfield reinforcement amid turbulent transfer window

Newcastle are considering a move for Aston Villa captain John McGinn, Mail Sport can reveal.

Eddie Howe wants his stable of midfield options returned to six after Sean Longstaff was sold to Leeds for £12million.

The head coach, whose side use a 4-3-3 formation, is currently down to just four, with Joe Willock sidelined for between four and six weeks after picking up a foot injury in Singapore last week.

And we can reveal that McGinn is high on Newcastle’s list of targets. The Magpies are yet to make a move on any player in this department, as they concentrate on signing a replacement for want-away striker Alexander Isak, who was excluded by Howe from training with the first-team on Wednesday.

McGinn’s reliability and character is one of the reasons why Newcastle are keen on the 30-year-old, given the turbulence of their summer.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe desperately wants to reinforce his midfield this summer

Joe Willock suffered a foot injury during last week’s friendly against a K-League XI and is set for between four and six weeks on the sidelines

There is word that the Scotland international could be available this window – he has two years to run on his contract – but Villa have rebuffed interest from Everton. It is also said Unai Emery does not want to lose the player.

However, Villa also need to sell players and, after seven years at the club, it could be that McGinn is ready for a fresh challenge, especially with Newcastle offering Champions League football.

His Villa team-mate Jacob Ramsey is another Newcastle have looked at, while Coventry’s Jack Rudoni is also admired.

Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Lewis Miley are currently the midfielders available to Howe. Tonali was managing a slight knee issue towards the end of the Far East tour, although he was expected to train as normal this week.