Sol Campbell is hopeful he will soon be able to seal a move to Newcastle.
The former England defender was freed from County after playing just one game, but they still hold his registration - although Campbell is hoping a Football League hearing in early December will allow him to join another club.
Campbell:"It [Newcastle] would be a great move for me.
"But who knows - hopefully people will sort things behind the scenes and I will get going and play football, which is all I want to do.
"I am training at Arsenal and keeping fit, which is the main thing and that is fantastic.
"I needed to train somewhere, Arsene [Wenger] has done me a great favour and you can't do any better than Arsenal."
THE CHRONICLE REPORTS:
MATT KILGALLON
He’s clearly a lad with ambition, and so far the problems he’s had in not being able to agree a contract suggest to me he’s ready for pastures new.
And at the age he is at he will be looking to the Premier League which is something that Newcastle can’t offer him just yet.
That’s something he has to weigh up and, with his contract up at the end of the season, he’ll have to make decisions pretty soon.
He’s injured at the moment, so that’s a factor which could be significant as well as far as moving in January is concerned.
I think he’d be a great addition, though, if Chris could pull it off, and he and Steven Taylor could mould a partnership that would be formidable in not only the Championship but in the Premier League.
(NU-MAD - Ask Leeds and Blades fans what they think of him. Very much like Peter Ramage, not strong enough to be a Premiership central defender, too slow to be a full-back. Very image-conscious. More concerned how he looks rather than how he plays.)
GARY CALDWELL
I think Gary’s made huge strides up in the SPL after first coming on the scene here as a kid with stiff competition ahead of him in Sir Bobby’s great team six or seven years ago.
Not only has he played in the Champions League and picked up a few medals to boot, but the sheer mantle of being skipper of a huge, huge club like Celtic shows he’s got the taste for it and can handle the pressure.
With him being an old boy from Newcastle as well he may see this as unfinished business.
If he’s available for next to nothing, he would be a superb signing and again another who could really gel with Steven Taylor.
(NU-MAD: Couldn't wait to leave St James' Park, and why should we take him back now his best form has obviously passed? Having a nightmare season for both club and country. We don't need him.)
ANDY O'BRIEN
ANDY is yet to play this season for Bolton and is going through something of a nightmare period at the Reebok.
He helped Newcastle establish themselves as a top-four team under Sir Bobby and he knows the club inside out.
I’m sure that he would jump at the chance of coming back.
But I don’t see Newcastle splashing money around for players during the Ashley regime.
He seems to have opted for the route of bringing in potential – like Haris Vuckic and Nile Ranger – instead so far, so the prospect of having to pay out that much money for a player could mean United look at other targets rather than the amiable Republic of Ireland man.
(NU-MAD: Not good enough for Bolton, why the hell should we take their cast-offs? If we get promoted (which is obviously the aim) why take on board a player who is not good enough for that league? We want players for the future not players who cannot cut it!)