Newcastle United have been dealt yet another setback in their bid to bring Dan Burn to St James' Park in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by Luke Edwards, with The Telegraph journalist revealing on Twitter that Brighton have rejected the Magpies' new and improved offer for the versatile defender, believed to be in the region of £10m.

Edwards added that, should PIF fail to bring a new centre-back into the club this month, it will have been "a failure" on the part of the Newcastle board, as their priority in January has always been strengthening the heart of their defence.

In his tweet, the journalist said: "Brighton, like every club in Europe, know Newcastle are desperate to sign a centre-back. Two bids [have been] rejected for Dan Burn. To fail to sign at least one CB in this window would be a failure, whatever else happens. The priority on January 1 was CBs."

Howe will be fuming

As Edwards suggests, Newcastle's main objective in the January transfer window was to bring in at least one if not two new centre-backs. Should the Toon ultimately miss out on Burn despite two hefty offers, it will undoubtedly be an outcome which would leave Eddie Howe fuming.

Indeed, it is easy to see why the heart of the Magpies' defence is an area of the pitch where the club are eager to strengthen this month. Aside from Norwich City, no Premier League team has conceded more than Newcastle's 43 goals this season, an average of 2.05 per game.

Considering just how impressive Burn has been over his 13 Premier League appearances, the £3.15m-rated defender would appear to make a fantastic addition to Howe's current options at the back. The 29-year-old has helped Brighton to keep three clean sheets, in addition to making 1.8 interceptions, 1.7 tackles and 3.6 clearances per game and winning 52% of his duels.

These returns have seen the 6 foot 7 colossus average a SofaScore match rating of 6.96, ranking him as Graham Potter's 10th-best performer in the top flight.

However, with Edwards revealing that the Seagulls have now rejected Newcastle's second approach for the centre-back - who is also more than capable of playing on the left of a back four - it very much seems doubtful whether PIF can complete a deal for the defender prior to Monday's transfer deadline. That would be extremely frustrating for the 44-year-old Toon manager.

In other news - "Been told": Kaveh Solhekol drops "behind the scenes" transfer update which NUFC fans will love