It's all (mostly) quiet on the North Eastern front at the minute: Sunderland are seemingly giving up on their chance to sign Fabio Borini on loan having agreed to bring in his fellow Liverpool flop Sebastian Coates on loan instead, and Newcastle continue their trend of doing very little on a deadline day. But, there might be some stirrings to give David Craig something to actually talk about - rather than reporting on unnamed agents running out of petrol and stealing the thunder of other reporters to announce deals elsewhere in the country. According to NUFC.com, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is apparently en route to Rome for a medical with AS Roma, ahead of joining the Serie A side on loan for the remainder of the season. That seems to suggest that Newcastle have another centre-back lined up - given that there would only be three first teasers available in the position. But that might not be Toby Alderweireld, as he seems to be off to Southampton for talks. But more excitingly for Newcastle fans one "football expert" has stated that he thinks a deal for Alexandre Lacazette is in fact done. He has been one of the most hotly linked potential signings of the summer, but TalkSport's North East reporter Graham Courtney claims that the stalemate with Lyon has been broken. Biffa at NUFC.com also suggests that Newcastle would be willing to do business on as many as 9 players: Mehdi Abeid, Jack Alnwick, Sammy Ameobi, Adam Armstrong, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gael Bigirimana, Shane Ferguson, Cheick Tiote, and Haris Vuckic. Would you be happy with the departure of Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.
