Newcastle United keen to land 19-year-old centre forward from Championship club - report claims Magpies lead race
We are still waiting for Newcastle United to make any kind of move in the transfer market this month.
The Magpies could have done with bringing in defensive cover at some point, given the number of injuries in the squad and the fact that Malick Thiaw has now played over 40 consecutive games and we have no cover for Lewis Hall.
Instead, Eddie Howe has had to dust off the old 'he'll feel like a new signing' spiel when asked about the return from injury of Dan Burn.
Meanwhile, up front, there's a clear lack of creativity, but Howe has said that he doesn't see the club being able to address that this month either.
Newcastle are leading the race for Watford striker Mamadou Doumbia
Still, that hasn't stopped the rumour mill linking Newcastle with a move for a striker, with Watford's Mamadou Doumbia being linked by Africa Foot, who claim that Newcastle are leading the race for the Malian youngster.
Doumbia has managed three goals and one assist in 18 appearances for Watford this season and was also involved in Mali's AFCON squad.
Newcastle aren't the only Premier League side looking at Doumbia with Brentford and Burnley also mentioned in the report. There's no indication of what kind of fee Watford would be looking for, or whether it's a move for January or the summer, though we would suspect the latter.
Mamadou Doumbia is a signing for the future rather than one to have an immediate effect
Clearly, though, a move for Doumbia wouldn't be to fix Newcastle's immediate problems with the 19-year-old still needing time to develop, so even if the Magpies moved this month, he's unlikely to be thrown into the first-team squad, especially now that Will Osula has returned from injury.
Newcastle are still keen on hoovering up bright young talent, and it sounds like Mamadou Doumbia is the latest target to fit that bill.
At least we're getting some kind of transfer story to chew on this month, eh?
