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Newcastle set to raid French market again
With bargains in the transfer market proving more elusive than a Fernando Torres goal these days, Premier League teams have been scouring Europe in search of value for money. Newcastle have struck it lucky in France in recent times and as the Life’s A Pitch panel reveals, it looks like they’re about to get their French phrasebook out again ahead of the January transfer window.
“Newcastle will be back in [France] in January for Olivier Giroud,” says the Daily Express’ Ian Ridley of the Montpellier frontman. “They need a striker.” But he’s not the only Montpellier player to have caught their eye, Ian explains. “They went to watch Giroud last week, he scored a hat-trick against Sochaux. [He's] 25, the right money, and yet they ended up looking at the defender [Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa] because he looked so good as well.”
Newcastle signing Yohan Cabaye is an example of the type of high-quality player that can be signed from France, explains the Independent’s Rory Smith, but he still considers buying from the French league to be a gamble. “I think the risk with France is that the quality of the league is still a lot lower, and the pace of the league, more importantly, is a lot slower,” he says. “And that means it’s hard for certain types of players to adapt. Yohan Cabaye has come in and looked like he’s been a Premier League player all his life. That doesn’t necessarily happen all of the time. And that’s the risk you take.”
One manager particularly au fait with the French market is Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger. But transfer stories doing the rounds suggest he will instead be going shopping in Germany in January as he tries to snaffle forward Lukas Podolski.
“It’s imperative that Arsenal sign one, maybe two, forward players in the January transfer window,” says Adrian Clarke of the Red, White & Blue podcast. ”I’d be amazed if Arsène Wenger didn’t sign a new forward. Lukas Podolski is a name that’s cropped up. I think he’d be a great addition. The problem is that Cologne value him at £20million and Arsenal have never spent £20million on a player.”
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