NEWCASTLE UNITED are looking to bring former Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson back to the North-East – if Burnley will take a hit on the fee they paid for him last summer.

The Clarets are willing to listen to offers for the 26-year-old but are happy to keep him if the right offers do not come along.

Burnley do not want to take too much of a hit on a player they had high hopes for when they signed him, knowing how consistently he had performed at Middlesbrough for a few years.

But now Bruce, a long term admirer having looked at signing him before at Aston Villa, is looking to take advantage of a situation that has seen him lack first team football since leaving the Riverside.

There is plenty of competition. As well as numerous Championship clubs, including Leeds United and Boro if the deal was right, Gibson is also being coveted by Aston Villa, Norwich and Sheffield United after promotion to the Premier League.