Arsenal Transfer News: Cheick Tiote in Last Minute Move?

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is considering a deadline-day move for Newcastle United midfielder Cheick Tiote, according to a report at Caught Offside. They report that The Magpies enforcer is seen as the ideal replacement for Cameroonian international Alex Song, who moved to Barcelona from the Emirates in a £15 million move earlier this month. Caught Offside claims it is the funds from that sale that would pay for Tiote, with a bid in the region of £16 million being prepared in a last ditch move tonight. Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has admitted that he was concerned he could lose some of his top players during this month's transfer window but so far none of the Toon's top stars have exited from St. James' Park. Veteran Arsenal boss Wenger is hoping he can change all that in the final hours of the transfer window, hoping that an offer of £16 million, over four times more than the £3.5 million Newcastle bought Tiote from FC Twente in the summer of 2012.