BUILDING A BETTER NEWCASTLE UPDATE: TAIWO, MAYUKA, COULIBALY

Newcastle United still needs a left back.

Davide Santon may have shown promise in his full Premier League debut, but he also displayed a fondness for his right foot. Newcastle could probably live with Santon on the left side - after all, it's managed to compensate for Ryan Taylor's right-footedness in that position for most of the season - but it's logical to think that it would be better off with a natural left-footed left back.

Which is why recent rumors of Newcastle's interest in AC Milan left back Taye Taiwo are intriguing. The legitimacy of those reports remains to be seen - they seem to be based off Taiwo's agent saying the Nigerian isn't necessarily happy with his lack of playing time at Milan. Since Newcastle was mentioned as a possible destination in the summer, it very well may just be getting recycled in the rumor mill.

We've tried to increase our standard for including players in our transfer guide this winter. We're only interested in including plausible targets this time around, not every player who's mentioned.

Taiwo at least seems plausible, which is why we've updated the guide to include the powerful left back, along with Nice's Ivorian midfielder Kafoumba Coulibaly and BSC Young Boys' Zambian striker Emmanuel Mayuka. All three would fit into United's transfer policy.

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