Mathieu Debuchy: Good move for Newcastle?

Mathieu Debuchy’s seemingly imminent move from Lille will give Newcastle a timely boost after a stuttering first half of the season. With the defence leaking 11 goals in their last 2 games, it is clear that reinforcements are needed.

The Frenchman is an attack minded full back but has impressive defensive skills. His performance against England at Euro 2012 was a reminder of this, with his energy and link up in attack and his solid defending skills clearly noticeable. Compared to last season where Debuchy was outstanding, he has not quite hit the heights this time around, which serves as a perfect opportunity for the Magpies to take the man that they so eagerly pursued in the summer for a knockdown price. Alan Pardew and Newcastle will be more than aware of the saying – “Form is temporary but class is permanent”.

Debuchy’s move may well spell the beginning of the end for current right-back Danny Simpson, whose contract runs out the end of the season. If Simpson runs out the remainder of his contract, or even signs a new deal, then Debuchy will provide welcome competition for places and also will offer a different option to Simpson.

Whereas Simpson bases his game on staying solid defensively and whipping in crosses as soon as possible, Debuchy will try to link up with Ben Arfa, or whoever is playing on the right, and get beyond his opposite number. With the extra games in the form of the Europa League and injuries mounting, as they so often do at this time of the season, Debuchy’s arrival is more than welcome.

This signing isn’t quite typical compared with others made by Newcastle in recent years, due to the age of Mathieu Debuchy. With the Frenchman turning 28 in July, there is little chance that Debuchy will have much, if any, sell-on value at all. The preferred transfer methods of Newcastle recently is to buy young players who have a lot of potential in order to make a profit from them in case a scenario arrives where they want to move on or need to be sold.

Having said that, when a player of this quality becomes available at a price of around £5 million, having little or no sell-on potential definitely shouldn’t prohibit a move which could be so good for the club.

To shore up a defence that has been so weak in recent weeks, Newcastle need to bring in a centre-back as well as Mathieu Debuchy. With Steven Taylor injured and Mike Williamson and Fabricio Coloccini out of form for the majority of this season, it could be crucial that another centre-back is bought to pull the club up the table.

If Mathieu Debuchy is signed and added to Newcastle’s growing French contingent, however, it will be a significant lift and will show how they mean to go on in January.

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