Newcastle's French love affair hardly on the wane - Andre Ayew fit the bill

Published on: 13 March 2015
Newcastle's French love affair hardly on the wane - Andre Ayew fit the bill
Andre Ayew

Marseille pair Andre Ayew and Pierre-Andre Gignac both in the frame as Newcastle United look to refresh their squad on a budget.

There's only one place to be in France this weekend – and it’s not in the beautiful southern city of Bordeaux.

Yes, Paris Saint Germain might have removed Chelsea’s smug confidence in their superiority on Wednesday but their trip to Bordeaux plays second fiddle to Marseille’s top-of-the-table clash with Lyon on Sunday night.

That side of the Channel is still the place to look if you want to see potential black and white signings.

Indeed suggestions that United’s French love affair is on the wane – supported by the lukewarm impact made by summer fancy Remy Cabella and the failure of Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa to make much of an impact – are greatly exaggerated.

Just as Remi Garde and Christophe Galtier remain on the managerial radar – Garde’s face looks like it fits if Newcastle turn away from John Carver – so too Ligue 1 remains fertile ground for refreshing the squad on a budget.

Two potential Newcastle targets should start at the Velodrome on Sunday and both will be free agents in the summer. United have apparently made contact with Andre Ayew while Marseille’s top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac netted in the last minute of last week’s 6-1 defeat of Toulouse.

Both want to move to the Premier League and even if their ages make them slightly older than Newcastle’s 21-27 blueprint, their free agent status would probably appeal. If they haven’t already, Graham Carr’s French contacts can expect a call sometime soon.

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