2. James McCarthy
The good news for Newcastle United with regards of their recent pursuit of Wigan Athletic's James McCarthy is that the Latics have
reduced their asking price. The bad news is that Everton are also interested and are prepared to do battle with the Magpies for the midfielder's services. McCarthy is a long-term target of Newcastle's, who made an approach to sign the 22-year-old toward the end of last season but were informed they'd have to fork out at least £15 million. Since then however, the Lancashire club have been relegated to the Championship and their valuation of the player is now a more modest £12 million. McCarthy is a robust, take-no-prisoners style midfielder who is strong on the ball and good in possession, and it is this sort of combative attitude to the game that would make the Scotland-born Republic of Ireland international a great replacement for Cabaye.