Newcastle United are thought to have appointed former journeyman striker Guy Ipoua to a role on their scouting team, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that the 43-year-old has landed himself an official post at St James’ Park after helping to broker the signing of Ludwig Francillette last summer.
He is said to have recently reported to Tyneside with his findings of the best young talent in France, both in Ligue 1 and in the lower ranks, where the club discovered Francillette.
Ipoua will look to help foster links between Newcastle and clubs and agents across the Channel.
OPINION
This is an interesting one, and whether it’s a good idea or not probably depends on your feelings about the last time Newcastle chased the French transfer market in earnest under the guidance of Graham Carr. There were some hits and misses from that period, that’s for sure. The likes of Moussa Sissoko, Yohan Cabaye and Mathieu Debuchy arrived on Tyneside and went on to be very good players for the club. However, others like Romain Amalfitano, Massadio Haidara and Florian Thauvin flopped spectacularly. The subsequent success of the latter is all the more jarring given how bad he was in a black and white shirt. So it was a mixed bag under Carr, but that doesn’t mean France should be ruled out altogether. Francillette is thought to be getting on excellently with the Magpies’ academy side, and he was someone who was plucked from obscurity. So there is talent there, and if Ipoua can help the Toon harness it then there’s no problem there.
