NEWCASTLE UNITED are waiting to see if Valencia trigger their automatic buy-out clause for Eliaquim Mangala before deciding whether to pursue their own interest in the Manchester City centre-half.

Mangala spent last season on loan at Valencia, making 30 starts at the heart of the back four as his temporary employers finished in mid-table in La Liga.

His loan deal features a clause that enables Valencia to sign him in an €18m agreement with Manchester City, and the Spanish side are keen to retain Mangala, who was one of their most reliable performers last term.

However, their financial situation means they are not in a position to commit €18m until they have completed a number of sales of their own, and their outgoing business is unlikely to be completed until the cut-off point for the buy-out clause has been reached.

Valencia officials have signalled a willingness to sell the likes of Aymen Abdennour, Aderlan Santos and Munir El-Haddadi to help plug the gaping hole in their finances, but the situation is unlikely to be rectified in time for them to trigger a deal for Mangala.

That could be good news for Newcastle, with Rafael Benitez having identified Mangala as one of his leading defensive targets this summer.

The 26-year-old was regarded as one of the most exciting defenders in Europe when he completed a £42m move from Porto to Manchester City in 2014.

His time at the Etihad was regarded as a failure, with a series of errors eventually persuading Manuel Pellegrini to drop him from the starting line-up.

Pep Guardiola opted to send him out on loan last summer, and while he restored at least some of his reputation with Valencia, he is not expected to feature in Manchester City’s plans for next season.

If Valencia do not sign him permanently, City will look to sell elsewhere, and Newcastle are keen to initiate formal discussions.

They would be willing to match Mangala’s Spanish buy-out clause by offering around £15m for the defender, who is happy to return to England if it enables him to continue rebuilding his career.

Newcastle’s other main central-defensive target is Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Semedo, but the Magpies will need Sporting to dramatically reduce their current €20m asking price if they are to make a formal move for the 23-year-old defender.

They will also be offered the chance to sign Inter Milan’s Andrea Ranocchia, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Hull City.

Inter are looking to sell Ranocchia permanently this summer, and Benitez previously attempted to sign the 29-year-old when he was at both Inter and Napoli.

Meanwhile, DeAndre Yedlin has returned to the United States squad for next month’s round of World Cup qualifiers.

Yedlin missed the US’s March matches because of injury, but is likely to start as Bruce Arena’s side take on Venezuela in a friendly next week before going up against Trinidad & Tobago and Mexico in qualifiers for next summer’s World Cup.