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Newcastle are closing in on a deal for Swiss World Cup defender Fabian Schar.

Newcastle are on the verge of making centre back Schar their fourth summer signing after agreeing a fee of around £3.5m with Deportivo La Coruña, and the 26-year-old is believed to be having medical on Wednesday.

Schar, a commanding stopper who is composed on the ball, has been on Newcastle’s radar since his days at first club Basel where he won three Swiss titles.

He ended up joining Hoffenheim, spending two years in Germany, before moving to Deportivo last summer where he was a regular last season.

He was then one of Switzerland’s key men as they reached the last-16 of the World Cup in Russia.

(Image: REUTERS)

Benitez has had a frustrating summer trying to get owner Mike Ashley to loosen the purse strings.

And with Benitez having to sell to buy, Chancel Mbemba’s exit to join Porto this week freed up some cash for the Toon boss to make his move for Schar.

So far this summer Newcastle have turned goalkeeper Martin Dubravka’s loan move from Sparta Prague into a permanent one for £4.3m, snapped up Ki-Sung Yueng on a free from Swansea and re-signed Kenedy on loan from Chelsea.