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Newcastle may have feared the worst when they lost out to QPR in the race for striker Loïc Rémy. But the Magpies finished the January transfer market with a vengeance, signing five players to take their tally to a whopping six in total. Of those six, the Life’s a Pitch team give their verdict on whether Yoan Gouffran from Bordeaux, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (pictured, right) from Montpellier and Toulouse’s Moussa Sissoko will be the next Yohan Cabaye, or the next Xisco.

“It’s a very good deal,” says the Sunday Telegraph’s Jason Burt of the £2.8m purchase of Gouffran. “He’s a very talented, technical player. The one reservation with him is that he’s perhaps a little bit lightweight and it might take him a while to get used to the physical side of the Premier League. But I think at £2.8m they can’t lose on this deal, so I think it’s going to be a hit.”

The People’s Tom Hopkinson is equally confident about Sissoko’s likely long-term impact at St James’ Park. “He’s a good player, and he hit the ground running in his first game [in the win over Aston Villa]. He’s already started to win the Toon Army over. There were a lot of fears on Tyneside that all these French players coming into the side is not a great thing. But they only have to look back at the way Yohan Cabaye came into the side and did such a great job. I think Sissoko could prove to be of a similar mould to him. So, I think he’ll be a hit.”

But the versatile £6.7m Yanga-Mbiwa might not enjoy the same success, says the Sunday Mirror’s David Walker. “I’ve got one big concern for that boy in that he’s very versatile: he can play across the back four, he can even play as a holding midfield man. And when you see that Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor are back, I’ve got this dread that he could be the utility man who becomes a James Perch, in that he slots in here and there and never commands a single position. He’s talented. If he gets a chance to nail down a place he could do alright. If two thirds of [transfers] come off the manager is happy, I just have a fear that the utility boy there might be one of the failures. I fear a miss.”

Watch the full video discussion by clicking on the play button in the image above. 

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