Newcastle United have completed a £13M fee for Brighton's left-sided defender Dan Burn and the boyhood Newcastle fan who almost signed for the club under Alan Pardew in 2011 is being signed primarily as a centre back with left-back Matt Targett arriving from Aston Villa simultaneously to solidify Newcastle's problematic left side of defence.

Blyth-born Burn is a 6ft 7in Newcastle supporter who was released by his boyhood club in 2009 after a spell as a youth player & was a highly valued member of Graham Potter's Seagulls squad riding high in 9th place in England's top flight table but it was understood his manager wouldn't stand in the way of his dream move to The Magpies.

Burn has played 16 times for Brighton in all competitions so far this season participating in four clean sheets including 3 in 13 Premier League games and has one goal to his name so far against Everton at Goodison Park when Rafa Benitez, former Newcastle and now former Toffees boss, seemed to be unaware of the threat he poses:

The football cliche "Good touch for a big man" certainly applies to Burn and he can count Sergio Aguero among his fans after this touch and clearance in 2019 after which the now retired former Man City and Argentina striker showed his appreciation:

Generally, he is a reliable defensive stalwart who adds height and presence to any back four or five if not a great deal of pace but would certainly be an upgrade on Ciaran Clark, who has sadly lost his way at Newcastle in the last twelve months with a number of big errors culminating in a strange red card in Friday's training game in Saudi Arabia:

Newcastle are already on the brink of completing a £40M move for Brazil international Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon after the fees including bonuses was agreed last night:

and have also been linked with a move for Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah, who is the England U21 record all-time goalscorer with 16 goals in 17 games:

Yet the Saudi-backed club may not be finished there and while moves for Manchester United's Jessie Lingard & Spurs' Dele Alli remain up the air, a centre back with genuine pace is an absolute must for the team with the deal for Sven Botman even being rumoured to be a possibility still as well as Diego Carlos and Benoit Badiashile.

Reports of Newcastle signing Arsenal's goalkeeper Bernd Leno are being played down but Eddie Howe is now being linked with a move for Man Utd 'keeper Dean Henderson:

Don't rule out a late surprise as well with the creme de la creme signing Real Madrid's soon-to-be free agent Gareth Bale, whom Alan Shearer revealed in his interview with Kieran Trippier lived in the same Madrid apartment building as Newcastle's new right-back & whose wives are good friends now, a transfer I predicted on December 13th:

This is the new Newcastle United and anything is possible once more in black & white. Expect the unexpected as the January window reaching its exciting crescendo on Monday night. Stranger things have certainly happened...