With Newcastle United’s first signing of the January transfer window in the bag in the form of Papiss Cisse, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will quickly be looking to bring a second player to St James’ Park and it is being reported that Hatem Ben Arfa has already recommended someone to him.
With Steven Taylor out for the rest of the season, Pardew wants to reinforce his defence and has apparently identified French defender Yohan Benalouane as the man to bring in.
According to L’Equipe, The Magpies had Benalouane scouted during the week as his Cesena team lost 2-1 to Napoli in the Coppa Italia, while talkSPORT reported that Ben Arfa has been ‘waxing lyrical’ about the Serie A defender.
[ad_pod id=’unruly-video’ align=’right’]
The Tunisian-born stopper, who played for Saint-Etienne before moving to Italy, has represented France Under-21s but is unable to play for the senior side after FIFA ruled he was to play only for Tunisia. He rejected the opportunity to play for Tunisia, after initially being called up.
Alan Pardew is said to be a fan of Benalouane’s ability to pass the ball out from defence and the 24-year-old could be available on loan after struggling to hold down a regular place in the Cesena first-team this season.
If Hatem Ben Arfa has his way, then Yohan Benalouane will be wearing a Newcastle United shirt and playing alongside him at St James’ Park before the month is out.
Written by Daniel Cross
Click on the image below to see who else Newcastle are rumoured to be interested in buying this month
