Pardew still hopes for 2 or 3 players, with Davide Santon being the latest rumour
Posted on August 29th, 2011 | 35 Comments |
It’s going to be a tense few days as the transfer window heads to a close and, personally, I’ll be glad when it does. At least we’ll know where we stand. It’s the continual hope that’s the killer!
So where do we stand at the moment?
Last week, Alan Pardew said that he hopes to add two or three players to the squad before the transfer window closes, with the obvious requirements being a new left-back and a striker. And, speaking yesterday, Pardew stands by his aims. Pardew said:
“There will only be a sense of relief when the window closes if we get these two players in, otherwise I will be disappointed
“We’ve had a great start and I think the players have proved they are committed to Newcastle.
“The club is everything. It’s not about the owner, the manager, the players, it’s about the club and the fans.
“So we’ve represented all that very well, but we have to continue to do that and we need a stronger group of players – I need to see that.
“There are three or four players I think can take this club forward and I’ve put those names to the board. When I say three or four, I mean two to three, but a choice.
“My job is to put pressure on the board to try to get these guys over the line.”
According to our old friend the Daily Mail, we have agreed a £5m deal for Inter Milan fullback Davide Santon. The 20 year-old defender – who can play on either side – has played 40 games for Inter Milan since joining in 2008, although he has found himself loaned out to Cesena recently and therefore presumably surplus to requirements at Inter. Santon has played 7 times for Italy’s senior squad.
The Mail suggests that the pursuit of Santon is instead of the Erik Pieters deal, which they suggest has hit some snags.
Quite where this leaves our alleged pursuit of Aly Cissokho is unknown. There were rumours in the French press last week that he was due for a medical at Newcastle today, but I can find no reliable confirmation in any UK publications.
The Mail then goes on to suggest that we’re after Czech goalkeeper Petr Bolek on a season long loan, presumably because Pardew fears that Krul, Harper and Soderberg don’t give us enough cover for the season.
In terms of a striker, the hints from the press were that Mobido Maiga is still our favoured target, despite alleged complaints to UEFA by Sochaux’s cranky manager Mehmed Baždarevi. The Sunday People alleges we’re ‘closing in’ on a £7m deal for the player.
I think that about sums up the situation as I understand it anyway.
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
cmon you fat tw@t, take your hand from out of your arsehole and put it in your wallet. LB AND STRIKER NEEDED NOW!!!!!!!!!