10 Things Newcastle Fans Need To Know About Aymen Abdennour
He's the name on everybody's lips... But who is he?
Newcastle United completed the signing of Florian Thauvin on Wednesday evening, with the French winger signing a five-year contract for a reported fee of £12 million. But despite the club taking their summer spending past the £50 million mark, fans' attentions are still fixated with one problematic area of the pitch that they feel still needs sorting out. That position? Centre back. United have bolstered their back line this window with the arrival of Chancel Mbemba, and even though the former Anderlecht man has impressed during The Toon's opening two Barclays Premier League fixtures, the team has still shipped four goals. From those four goals, Tim Krul has seen three headers fly past him which shows what type of centre back the black and whites desire. Ironically, they do have one in reserve but as any hardened Geordie will tell you, keeping Mike Williamson as far away from the pitch as possible is ALWAYS in Newcastle's best interests. One name has repeatedly cropped up all summer long as a potential signing - Aymen Abdennour of Monaco. Wednesday evening saw things shift up a gear or two as @FNN_Official - a Manchester City researcher, RPL correspondent, Covering Moscow's football teams, Transfer correspondent for Russian Football News, and Ligue 1 admirer no less - tweeted that a deal had been agreed between for the sale of the defender. He said: "Led to believe AS Monaco and Newcastle are close to an agreement for the sale of Aymen Abdennour." Even though a very, very small proportion of United's fan base watches Ligue 1, being linked with a Champions League defender hasn't failed to capture the imagination. Here's 10 things that Newcastle fans need to know about that man who could potentially be their sixth signing of a very fruitful summer.