Newcastle United reportedly want to sign Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips and Paris Saint-Germain's Hugo Ekitike on loan for the second half of the campaign.
The Saudi-backed Magpies reinforced their ranks over the summer with three marquee signings, bringing in Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento to beef up all three areas of the field.
However, just as he was beginning to find his feet in the Premier League, former AC Milan midfielder Tonali was implicated in the Italian football betting scandal and was given a 10-month ban for gambling on illegal platforms.
Tonali - who also admitted to betting on AC Milan matches while representing the Rossoneri - will therefore not be eligible to return until pre-season, while Barnes is also fighting to return from a foot problem before the New Year.
Barnes is one of a plethora of Newcastle players to have been struck down by injuries in the first half of the campaign, with Dan Burn, Callum Wilson, Elliot Anderson, Sven Botman and Jacob Murphy set to miss some or all of the festive period.
As a result, the Magpies are unsurprisingly drawing up plans for the winter window, although Financial Fair Play restrictions could hinder their ability to make permanent acquisitions.
Instead, The Times claims that Eddie Howe's side will try to strike loan deals instead, and the middle of the pitch has been identified as the top priority given Tonali's lengthy suspension.
A move for Al-Hilal man and former Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Ruben Neves has been mooted, and Newcastle have been given the green light to pursue a deal after their Premier League rivals failed to pass a motion to block clubs from doing business with teams under the same ownership.
Neves is supposedly set to remain at Al-Hilal, though, so unsettled Man City midfielder Phillips is understood to be the Magpies' main target to bolster their engine room, as there is a consensus that he will be allowed to leave the Citizens at the earliest opportunity.
Phillips has consistently struggled to play his way into Pep Guardiola's good books since joining from Leeds United in the summer of 2022, and he is yet to start a Premier League game for the champions this season.
Man City have the England international under contract for another five years, but the club would not stand in his way of a departure for the right price, having also added Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic to their midfield ranks this summer.
Meanwhile, PSG attacker Ekitike was heavily linked with a switch to St James' Park following his breakthrough season with Reims in 2021-22, only to reject Howe's side in favour of the French champions.
The 21-year-old joined Les Parisiens on loan with a £24.8m option to buy, which was triggered this summer, but he is below all of Kylian Mbappe, Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos in the pecking order at the Parc des Princes.
Ekitike's only appearance of the 2023-24 season so far was an eight-minute cameo against Lorient on the opening weekend, and he has since failed to make Enrique's squad in each of their last 10 Ligue 1 matches.
The striker also has a long-running contract with PSG and is not due to become a free agent until 2027, but the French champions are also expected to entertain appropriate offers in 2024. body check tags ::
