Newcastle United endured a terrible start to their 2021/22 Premier League season, winning only one league game between August and January.

To highlight how shaky they were at the back during those months, the Toon only kept one clean sheet, which came during their 1-0 win over Burnley in December.

During the previous January transfer window, the Newcastle owners, rather smartly, decided to bring some new defenders into the club and help Eddie Howe get the team away from the relegation zone.

Players such as Kieran Tripper, Matt Targett and Dan Burn all came in during the winter window and helped the club end the season in 11th place.

Focusing on Burn, in particular, he ended the campaign with 114 clearances, 33 blocks, 29 interceptions and 12 successful tackles to his name, highlighting how important he ended up being for the Magpies following his £13m move from Brighton & Hove Albion.

And, with the summer transfer window now open, one figure that the Toon have been linked with that could give PIF the chance to replicate a similar sort of masterclass that they pulled off with Burn back in January is Tosin Adarabioyo.

As a product of Manchester City's youth system, the defender had loan spells with West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers before eventually leaving the Citizens in 2020 to join Fulham.

To highlight his defensive talent, in the 41 Championship appearances he made for the west London club last season, the Englishman won 28 tackles and made 50 interceptions.

He also racked up a higher average of clearances per game (3.6) than any other player in Fulham's squad.

This shows just how capable the 24-year-old is at the back in a similar way that Burn was during the second half of Newcastle's previous season.

Labelled as an "exceptional" talent by Pep Guardiola, Adarabioyo has a reported price tag of £22m, which shows just how highly-rated he is by Fulham, who would presumably rather keep hold of the defender for their upcoming Premier League campaign.

Moving forward, if Eddie Howe wants to add another defensive figure to his squad this summer, signing a young centre-back like Adarabioyo, who has plenty of experience playing in the English game, could be a great bit of business for the Tyneside club and PIF.

AND in other news: Bid incoming: PIF could land Saint-Maximin 2.0 as NUFC now plot move for £43m talent