Just days after Alan Pardew so publicly announced that Newcastle's transfer policy wasn't currently working and that the answer was to bring in more experience, news has broken that the Magpies are apparently keeping a close eye on France's under-21 side. The player under consideration - according to the Chronicle - is Rennes forward Paul-Georges Ntep, who has been on Graham Carr's radar for some time. He only just signed for Rennes in January, but has scored 7 goals in 17 games for his new side after hitting 22 in 63 for Auxerre. French sources have reported that United scouts were due to watch the play-off qualifier against Sweden, which France won 2-0 last night, with Ntep attracting attention, as he has before. Already linked to the Magpies before, Ntep has also drawn attention from the likes of Arsenal, Roma, Tottenham, Manchester United, Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers and RSC Anderlecht. He would add pace to the Magpies attack, presumably in conjunction with a bigger striker like Papiss Cisse of Emanuel RIviere, who desperately needs a quicker man to play off him. Despite Pardew's renewed call for experience, United will clearly continue to search Europe for the best young talents. Ntep might be one of them, but with Riviere, Ayoze Perez, and Adam Armstrong all vying to play second string to Papiss Cisse, and the worry of the African Nations robbing Pardew of the Senegalese striker, he'd have to hit the ground running to be worth any attention.
