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Newcastle sign 24-year-old defender on loan for rest of season
• Romelu Lukaku’s younger brother has been at
Lazio since 2016
Newcastle have completed their first piece of business of the January transfer window with the left-back
Jordan Lukaku joining on loan from Lazio.
The 24-year-old, who is the younger brother of Manchester United’s Romelu, arrives on a loan until the end of the season with Newcastle having the option to buy the defender in the summer. It is not clear what the fee would be at this stage.
Lukaku has been at Lazio since 2016 but struggled with a knee injury at the start of this season and has been mainly on the bench for Simone Inzaghi’s side making just one Serie A start.
He will fill a position of need for Newcastle with winger Matt Ritchie starting their last six Premier League matches as an auxiliary left-back as first-choice Paul Dummett has suffered lingering hamstring problems.
Another defender, Southampton’s Cédric Soares, is in advanced talks to join Serie A side Inter on loan until the end of the season.
The 27-year-old Portugal right-back who was part of their victorious Euro 2016 squad, has been with the Premier League club since 2015.
He was a first-team regular under Ronaldo Koeman and Claude Puel but his form declined alarmingly during last season’s struggles with Mauricio Pellegrino and Mark Hughes at the helm and since Ralph Hasenhüttl’s appointment in December he’s effectively become Saints’ third-choice behind teenagers Yan Valery and Kayne Ramsay.
Hasenhüttl has made it clear he needs to sell players in order to make any additions to his squad with Manolo Gabbiadini departing to Sampdoria on 11 January for £12m.
Inter are turning to Soares as cover for Sime Vrsaljko. The Croatia international has been unconvincing since arriving on loan from Atlético Madrid last summer, making just eight Serie A starts, but has also had injury issues.
Former Chelsea midfielder Mikel Jon Obi has returned to England after two years in China, signing for Championship promotion contenders Middlesbrough until the end of the season.
The 31-year-old, who won two Premier League titles and the Champions League during his 11 years at Stamford Bridge, captained Nigeria at last summer’s World Cup and last played for Tianjin TEDA but had been a free agent since November.
Boro manager Tony Pulis said: “I’m pleased to get him in. He is a man with a lot of experience and quality. He has a winning mentality and he wants to be here to be a part of what we are looking to achieve.”
Mikel becomes Middlesbrough’s second arrival this month after they paid Millwall £8m for midfielder George Saville, who had been on loan at the Riverside since August.