But Alan Pardew still doesn't know the player's position, and he says work is already under way ahead of January’s transfer window.
Pardew wants to strengthen his defensive options after the club failed to sign a defender in the summer.
Newcastle’s back four has been decimated by injuries already this season.
And Danny Simpson’s contractual situation is also a concern, with the right-back’s deal running out in the summer.
Alan Pardew: “The market’s very small for us.
“We want players better than what we’ve got, and it’s difficult.
“Right back is an area where there’s a bit of a question mark, as Danny has not signed a contract at this football club.
“We probably need another centre-back, I think that’s pretty obvious. We were a bit unfortunate not to get one in the last window.
“I think Mike (Ashley) respects me in that I haven’t done it through the Press.
“I’ve done it in the right manner, in my opinion, in the boardroom.
“I’ve made it very, very clear that if we’re going to compete with the top clubs we need to pass the ball better, and we need to retain possession. If we’re going to retain possession, we need better players.
“If we’re going to get better players, not only have we got to produce our own, we’re going to have to search high and low to get the best.
“We’ve got great confidence in (chief scout) Graham Carr and our scouting team – there are a lot of footsoldiers underneath him – that we’re going to produce our own.”