Newcastle looking to French Quartet

Newcastle look set to continue their intake of talent from Ligue 1 with Mapou Yanga Mbiwa, Massadio Haidara, Yoann Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko supposedly looking set to bolster the depth of the magpie's squad. The Tyneside club are very much notable for their frequent delve into the French top flight with current first team players Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa and Mathieu Debuchy being three members of the clubs expansive gallic crop of talent. Gouffran and Mbiwa have both previously enjoyed success in France winning the Championship with Bordeaux and Montpellier respectively. Young combative prospects Moussa Sissoko and Massadio Haidara are expected to follow.

A fairly poor, injury plagued season has seen the club slide alarmingly down the table after a fantastic 5th place finish last season. With the club currently competing in the Europa League, a lack of depth in the squad has been an issue raised in recent months by the media and fans alike. The possibility of the above signings is very much a state of intent from the St James' Park hierachy in the attempt to eradicate the issue of a lack of depth.

The slip down the table has worried the board and being only two points off the drop zone, relegation is very much a possibility for Alan Pardew's side. Despite this, the lure of the North East of England and Premier League football has proven to be an intriguing possibility for the Ligue 1 talents.