Who To Buy In France? We Discuss

If there's any shred of positivity to take away from Monday's embarrassing drubbing in Manchester, it's this: If Mike Ashley and Joe Kinnear needed a firm kick to the backside to improve Newcastle United's roster, they got one.

In the wake of wantaway midfielder Yohan Cabaye's withdrawal and the subsequent beatdown at the Etihad Stadium, news has begun to bubble up that Newcastle's front office is working to add reinforcements — first with a short blurb on NUFC.com and then with photos on Twitter showing Kinnear, manager Alan Pardew, chief scout Graham Carr and club secretary Lee Charnley at an airport purported to be in Nice, France.

Big shock: Need players? Go to France. But I'll put aside my ever-increasing rage at Newcastle's unimaginative one-stop shopping transfer policy for a moment. Whom might Newcastle be able to sign from its favorite tri-colored supermarket?

Al Jazeera's beIN Sport — a channel that's not available through my television provider (and I know I’m not alone in that regard) — holds the American broadcast rights for Ligue 1, meaning my knowledge of the French league and its players has taken a nosedive over the past couple of seasons. So I pestered co-blogger Matt and Twitter pal @Sholazo — both dedicated followers of Ligue 1 — about potential Newcastle targets.

We're not claiming to have insider knowledge here. This is merely a conversation about players Newcastle might — or should — be after.

(Tom): OK guys. Joe Kinnear and Co. were allegedly in France. I think we can fairly assume they were there to negotiate some transfer deals. We all know Newcastle needs a striker first and foremost. Who are the likely options?

 

(@Sholazo): Given that Kinnear and Co. were in Nice, not many. Looking at the teams in the surrounding area, the only standout name is Marseille’s André-Pierre Gignac, who has already publicly stated he has no intention of moving to Newcastle. Nice’s Dario Cvitanich is nearing 30, while Monaco’s Emmanuel Riviere has a dubious goal-scoring history at best, despite having scored four goals in Monaco’s opening two matches this season.

In the context of Ligue 1 as a whole, things don’t get much better in terms of realistic targets left on the market. With Bafetimbi Gomis looking more and more likely to sign a new deal at Lyon, Bordeaux’s Cheick Diabate, whom Newcastle has been linked to numerous times in the past few years, and Toulouse’s Wissam Ben Yedder (pictured) would seem to be the best of the few possible targets left. Lille’s Nolan Roux could also potentially be available reasonably cheap, but he’s yet to live up to the potential he showed in his early days at Brest. None of the three would offer Newcastle a world class talent, though Ben Yedder has the potential to grow into a very good striker.

(Matt): Gomis is still the primary option at this point, given his stated desire to play for Newcastle. Since Lyon isn't that close to Nice, and Gomis doesn't need to be sold on the club, the obvious conclusion is that Kinnear and Pardew were there for someone else. If it's a striker, Cvitanich would be the first guess, but would the club change its transfer policy to sign a 29-year-old who just had his breakout season? Seems like a bit of a stretch.

Ben Yedder would be my pick among reasonable Ligue 1 strikers. He's like a trickier Yoan Gouffran, who uses his pace and off-the-ball movement to find himself open space, but also can free himself for a shot with his footwork. Sadly, I can't see Pardew wanting to experiment with the fluid, pivot-less front line that would be required to accommodate Ben Yedder and any of Newcastle's other strikers.

I'm of the opinion that the missing ingredient up top is a physical brute of a striker more so than a polished finisher. Who in Ligue 1 would fit that description? Anyone?

 

Probably Diabate (pictured battling with former Newcastle Swiss knife James Perch). I’m not a huge fan of him, nor does he have the best record when it comes to scoring goals, but at 6-foot-4 he’s a big, strong, physical target up top. There are very few other big men in France, let alone of Premiership quality in my opinion. Newcastle were linked to Lille’s Brazilian striker Tulio De Melo last summer, but he’s at best a fourth choice striker, while St. Etienne’s 6-foot-2 striker Brandao clocks in at 33 years old, meaning Newcastle would need to bend massively on its transfer policy to sign him.

Most Ligue 1 clubs now prefer mobile strikers who drag defenders around the formation, meaning there aren't many options as far as target men go. Diabate hit a bit of a hot streak toward the end of last season, so he's not entirely hopeless as a finisher. He'd be a decent Plan B, but certainly not a player to build a system around.

 

Left winger is another area of need. There's just no out-and-out left winger on the roster (despite what some fans think about Sylvain Marveaux, he isn't one). Give me a realistic option or two from France.

 

Newcastle has been linked repeatedly to Lille’s Florian Thauvin over the past nine months, and while I think he would be a fantastic signing, he’s not the only option. I know Matt is a huge fan of Rennes’ Romain Alessandrini, and I certainly agree that he would perfect for Newcastle, but the club would have to be prepared to play the waiting game on him as he recovers from a knee injury, and I’m not sure they’re in a position to. Nice winger Eric Bauthéac may be a relatively cheap and effective option, while the club could show real ambition by targeting Marseille’s André Ayew — though I’d be surprised if he cost less than £10 million. Montpellier’s Anthony Mounier may also be available at a knockdown price, following a poor first season at the club.

I'll contrast Thauvin and Alessandrini (pictured) to explain why I prefer the latter as a left winger, despite the knee injury. While both are left-footed players, Thauvin is more of a Hatem Ben Arfa type, who excels as a number 10 or inverted right winger. Moving him to the left side of the field limits him as a player, in my opinion. Alessandrini also roams all over the field, but he appears more content to stick to the sideline and fire in crosses, if that's what's required of him in a given match. Alessandrini was training with Rennes this summer, though he has not yet appeared in a match this season, so don't expect his injury to keep him out much longer.

I thought Ayew might have been a bit too pricey for Newcastle to consider, but he's been linked today in Le10Sport, a rumor which actually makes a lot of sense. He'd definitely be a big enough name to warrant a Pardew/Kinnear visit, and Marseille's proximity to Nice means there's a good chance he's the player they were talking to. Ayew's left-footed and typically starts on the left wing, but he does a little bit of everything. He's a great dribbler, has plenty of speed, and loves to make himself available in the box for a cross from the right wing. It would be quite the coup if Newcastle could convince him to come.

Cabaye is clearly on his way out. I actually think Newcastle would be better served to replace him with more of an attacking midfielder rather than a clone who sits deeper. I liked Marvin Martin when he was making a name for himself at Sochaux. Yoann Gourcuff's name has been tossed out as well. Who would you replace Cabaye with?

I agree that Newcastle should replace Cabaye with a more positionally advanced player, given that Moussa Sissoko would then be able to fall back to his more natural position in the center of the park. This is a position where Newcastle would have no shortage of targets and, depending on how much the club is willing to spend, the likes of Martin or Rémy Cabella could be brought in, while it’s unlikely that the club would spend the money to bring in Marseille’s Mathieu Valbuena.

With Newcastle likely to stick to a strict budget however, I think Sochaux’s Ryad Boudebouz (pictured) is the most likely target. Boudebouz is in the final year of his contract, and given that he’s been repeatedly linked to Newcastle in recent seasons, it’s not unrealistic to think he could be available for around £3 million. My personal choice (assuming Newcastle aren’t willing to spend too much) would be Bastia’s Wahbi Khazri. Nice’s Valentin Eysseric or Lorient’s Alain Traoré could also be available at the right price.

Because of his contractual situation, Boudebouz is the most likely link, and he'd be a great fit in a number 10 role. Newcastle may try to get by with Marveaux in this position, but his injury history strongly suggests this would be a mistake. Since Boudebouz would be available for a reasonable price, why not add him to the mix? Eysseric is another inexpensive option who is almost certainly on the club's radar. In January, he was key to a Nice attack which tore apart Valenciennes 5-0, overwhelming then-transfer targets Nicolas Isimat-Mirin and Gaetan Bong.

If Mike Ashley decides to open his wallet a bit more, I would love to see Thauvin as an option in this role. If nothing else, watching he and Ben Arfa try to one-up each other with their dribbling skills would be an awfully entertaining show.

Comments

[jaeger]

from what ive heard pardew and co. were in france to meet with ashley as he was there on business or something.

wish we would go into the portuguese league or bundesliga, theres a lot of unknown talent in there and we need to break out of the french mold, too many of those clubs are on to us now and want higher transfer fees when we come a-knockin', credit to graham carr i guess.

[M]

last summer there were 2x 'Romain A.' available on a free from Ligue 2 clubs... unfortunately we ended up with the shite one