With Davide Santon facing an uncertain future at Newcastle there has been renewed debate over who should begin 2014/15 as first choice left-back at St James' Park. It was a position that came under intense scrutiny towards the end of the campaign with Alan Pardew deploying four different players - Santon, Paul Dummett, Massadio Haidara and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - on the left-hand side of his defence at varying stages of the season. Santon got off to a bright start and was Pardew's top seed at left-back before he faded badly while Dummett struggled against high-calibre opponents and was continually punished for his careless positioning. Haidara, despite being predominantly limited to cameos from the bench, impressed sufficiently enough to suggest he could be a long-term solution to the predicament facing the Magpies boss this summer. The Journal claim this morning that Haidara is favourite to start next season at left-back and the Club are ready to offload Santon with a return to Italy seemingly on the cards for the talented but inconsistent 23-year-old, who is reluctant to end his three-year stay on Tyneside. Haidara's proposed elevation to the leading candidate to start next season at left-back comes as something of a surprise to us given he was rumoured to be amongst a coterie of French players whose names were circuited around clubs in Ligue 1 in preparation for a summer clear out. But with Dummett failing to impress and Santon - who could yet be switched across to right-back should Mathieu Debuchy depart after the World Cup - seemingly being fast-tracked towards the exit it doesn't require a logical leap to ascertain why Pardew would consider it the right time to kickstart the process of moulding Haidara into a first-team regular by granting him increased opportunities. Added competition will come in the form of Jack Colback, who could find himself frequently pitched in at left-back more than times than we might expect given he's battling for a place in an already over-crowded midfield. Yanga-Mbiwa, meanwhile, is also an option provided he isn't sold before the end of the transfer window. While disposing of Santon would be a hasty move by Newcastle with his best years ahead of him it might be necessary to facilitate Haidara's progression to the front of the left-back queue and at 21 he is still a rough diamond that requires diligent polishing.
