Newcastle – £6m French Defender?

Deadline day madness is upon us and it’s crunch time as to whether Newcastle United bring in the defender they’ve clearly been actively chasing throughout January.

Rumours have now surfaced that a deal is allegedly in the offing for Newcastle to pay over £6m for Montpellier defender, Yanga M’Biwa. Aged 22 but with already well over 150 appearance for the French club, M’Biwa is a powerful central defender who can also play right across the back line. He is 6ft tall and was clearly an early developer as he played the full season (41 matches) when aged only 18.

With Watford holding out for top money for Adrian Mariappa, and having already lost out on West Ham’s Tomkins, it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise for United to again look to the French market. M’Biwa is African born but moved to France as a toddler and made eight appearances for the French under 21 team. If there is interest from Newcastle, with only 18 months left on his contract there may be a deal to be done at something lower than that headline price of £6m+.

What is clear is that we are desperate for medium and long-term competition for Taylor and Coloccini, as well of course as the short-term in Steven Taylor’s absence.