Newcastle Transfers: Davide Santon Loan Confirmed

As expected, Newcastle have just confirmed that they have sent Italian defender Davide Santon on loan to former club Inter Milan. The player passed a medical this afternoon and joins temporarily with a view to a permanent deal in the summer. Despite promises to open up communication channels more, Newcastle actually denied knowledge of the deal this morning after Santon had confirmed he was heading back to Italy on Facebook, and released the following curt statement with the deal done:

Newcastle United can confirm that Davide Santon has joined Inter Milan on loan for the remainder of the 2014/15 campaign with an option to buy at the end of the season. The 24-year-old Italian defender joined the Magpies from the same club in August 2011.

The move isn't a massive problem: Santon is not a first teamer any more for the Magpies and he has been out for the past eight months (even if his girlfriend claims he's been fit and available for a lot longer than is claimed by the club). And Massadio Haidara is arguably a better player. The problem though is that Newcastle's squad is already small and over-stretching it is silly, particularly in light of the news that four of five more fringe players will be heading out on loan to Rangers as well.