Newcastle United have Brentford defender Sepp van den Berg on their radar as they keep an open mind on centre-backs ahead of the next couple of transfer windows.

The 23-year-old was checked out by Toon scouts during his various loan stints while at Liverpool. Back then he spent spells at Preston North End, Schalke and Mainz before moving to the Bees for £4.4million last August. Van den Berg has enjoyed a good start to life under Thomas Frank with the right-footed centre-half also impressing watching scouts.

Newcastle sent head of recruitment Steve Nickson to the Gtech Stadium last week for the clash against Manchester City which ended 2-2. The main point of interest for Nickson was Bryan Mbeumo but Newcastle do have a watchful eye in the centre-back area.

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Fabian Schar is yet to sign a new contract but even if he does commit, head coach Eddie Howe wants strength in depth. His other right-footer in the heart of his defence is Jamaal Lascelles with the ex-Nottingham Forest star also facing an uncertain future with his current deal up at the end of the season.

Van den Berg is deemed an excellent option as a ball playing defender but despite him only recently arriving at Brentford, where he has a deal until 2029, the 23-year-old is also being watched by Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven have previously held an interest.

With Newcastle treading carefully in this window but knowing there could be headroom in the summer window to buy two or three stars, Van den Berg could come into the reckoning depending on where United stand with Schar and Lascelles.

Nickson is renowned for ensuring all eventualities are considered and wants to be able to hand Howe a strong list of candidates in every department. Speaking on recruitment, Howe told Chronicle Live only on Friday: "You have to be out watching players, building knowledge and you have to an eye on the unexpected that might happen, and we're able to recruit.

"We can't rest for one second. And those people (the scouts) involved don't need to be motivated. They know there is a lot of pressure on their shoulders to identify the next players we need."