Newcastle United and Arsenal are monitoring Sochaux's teenage defender Jerome Onguene, according to reports in The Daily Mail (via Tribal Football). Scouts for both Premier League clubs are said to be watching the centre-half with a close eye, with the January transfer window re-opening in about a week. Born in Cameroon but possessing a duel nationality with France where he has been capped at U19 level, the imposing lad stands at 6 foot 3 inches tall and has impressed on-watchers with his strength and composure for such a young age (he only turned 18 this past Tuesday). His versatility has also caught the attention of scouts as he has also operated stoutly at right-back, a position where Newcastle United have no cover for Daryl Janmaat and Arsenal meanwhile, if reports in the same newspaper are to be believed, are looking to offload second-choice Mathieu Debuchy in next month's transfer window and could do with extra cover. Onguene broke into Sochaux's first team last season and is now a regular after impressing during the U19 side's France youth cup campaign which saw them pickup the Coupe Gambardella trophy.