Newcastle defender attracting attention from Lazio

Newcastle full-back Davide Santon is attracting interest from Serie A side Lazio, according to reports in Italy.

Santon, 21, first came to prominence at Inter Milan during the 2008/09 season, when he broke into Jose Mourinho’s first-team.

Despite being tipped for a bright future at the San Siro, Santon was offloaded to Newcastle in a £5m deal last summer, and the defender racked up 19 Premier League starts during a mixed debut season in England.

And according to Italian news site Calciomercatonews.com, new Lazio boss Vladimir Petkovic has identified the acquisition of a versatile left-back as a priority this summer, and he could be ready to approach Newcastle with an offer for the 21-year-old.

However, it is unclear whether Newcastle are willing to let Santon move on so soon after joining, potentially hampering Petkovic’s chances of luring the Italy international back to his homeland.