... Newcastle United ran the rule over France right-back Mathieu Debuchy on Sunday as he scored for his country in a 3-2 win over Iceland in Lyon.
The Lille player has been on Alan Pardew’s radar for a couple months and the 26-year-old didn’t do himself any harm with a rare goal, even if the French back four came in for criticism from had coach Laurent Blanc who was less than impressed by their collective performance.
Pardew is looking for a right-back and Debuchy fits the bill, although if Lille are serious about demanding £8m for their player then the Toon boss will look elsewhere.
Alan Pardew: "Yes we checked him out.
"He is a player we have been watching for a while.
"But if he has a good Euro 2012 I'm sure his value, like a lot of players playing over there, will rise."