Newcastle have identified ideal Fabian Schar successor, 95% and 7.63 stats prove why

Newcastle should accelerate a move for Ajax starlet Aaron Bouwman as some impressive stats prove why they must take a chance on his lofty potential.

Matthias Jaissle has settled on his preferred centre-back pairing of Sven Botman and Malick Thiaw in the early stages of this season.

Dan Burn is only just recovering from recent injury concerns ahead of club football's return, while Fabian Schar has largely had to settle for minutes from the bench in the league.

The Chronicle have reported that Ajax youngster Bouwman has emerged as a target for Newcastle after a strong start to the season for his boyhood club.

19-year-old centre-back Bouwman boasts some impressive stats that show exactly why he could be an ideal addition to Jaissle's squad as Schar prepares to move on.

The Swiss international is out of contract on Tyneside next June and looks set to leave as Burn's deal is likely to be extended.

Aaron Bouwman is in fine form for Ajax, Newcastle must beat the competition

Bouwman made 14 appearances for Ajax's first team last term after breaking into the senior squad in December.

He has emerged as a regular starter in this campaign, with 10 appearances to his name, but is currently sidelined with an injury suffered at the start of last month.

Chelsea are reportedly among the top teams keeping tabs on his progress alongside Newcastle, so the Tyneside club must secure his services as soon as possible.

Bouwman is among the best-performing Eredivisie centre-backs this season for successful pass percentage (95.2%, 100th percentile), successful dribbles (0.76, 94th percentile) per 90 and ball touches (93.6, 86th percentile) per 90.

He is clearly very comfortable with the ball at his feet, which is a key attribute of Schar's too, after he ranked among the top performers in his position in the PL for line-breaking passes (13.2), touches (80.4) and accurate long-balls (5.86) per 90 last season.

They are definitely of a similar style, but Bouwman looks like a smarter and quicker centre-back at this stage of his career, outperforming Schar's fouls committed (0.51 to 1.24), recoveries (7.63 to 3.55) and dribbled past (0.25 to 0.49) stats from last term in their respective leagues.

It effectively feels as if Newcastle are trying to replace Schar with a younger, fitter version of himself, with Bouwman surely perfect for Jaissle's front-foot style of play.

Bouwman has been compared to Virgil van Dijk

Ajax's incredible 19-game unbeaten streak in competitive games with Bouwman starting only came to an end as he suffered an injury last time out against PSV.

New boss Michel has made him a regular starter this season, and he praised the 19-year-old in August while comparing him to a Premier League great.

He said: "He still needs to improve in duels, with second balls and in some situations in his body position, but he has an enormous amount of talent and I expect him to keep developing, keep learning and keep working hard.

"In my view, he can become the new Van Dijk, if you look at his style of play."