Newcastle Transfers: 10 French Bargains Pardew Should Target In January

10. Yoann Gourcuff

Club: Lyon If Alan Pardew decides that rushing Siem De Jong back in January - his current estimated return date - or is convinced that he needs someone to fill in longer term for the number 10 in case of further injuries, he could do a lot worse than former Milan player Gourcuff. He's not exactly prolific as a striking option, but the 24 goals he scored in 69 games for Bordeaux indicate that he knows where the goal is when he's played in the right place. Unfortunately, he's also very good, and likely to field offers from Italy (a return to newly skint Milan, or Roma might be a good option) while Arsene Wenger might see him as a good replacement for the apparently unhappy Mesut Ozil. Likelihood Slim to none. The 28-year-old is outside that imaginary age bracket that's supposed to exist at Newcastle (though his free-ness probably means he'd be counted as a special case), and he comes with a bit of a Michael Owen tag about him. Newcastle will be painfully aware that Gourcuff will have cost Lyon £60m by the time he walks away for free: nightmarish reminders of Michael Owen would probably scupper any deal. Not to mention, he'd be severely unlikely to choose to come to Newcastle at all.