Gervinho one step closer to Newcastle according to agent.

Newcastle are believed to be on the verge of securing a deal to bring Gervinho to St James' Park, if the local press are to be believed.

The Northern Echo is among a few sources now that have informed the Geordie public and the legions of NUFC fans that the players agent has announced that he is about to embark on discussions with the Newcastle board this week.

It had been rumoured in the French press over the weekend that Gervinho would be set to join his former Lille team-mate Yohan Cabaye and current international team-mate Cheik Tiote at Newcastle, and with strong rumour spreading about a press conference being planned for Thursday - incidentally the same date that international transfers are permitted - it could suggest that the rumours have some foundation behind them.

However it's still a case of wait and see for the moment. Nothing is concrete as yet, despite the vast amount of rumours linking us with the same players time and time again, so I'd tend to err on the side of caution. This transfer malarkey is a funny old game.

If you hear any more rumours then why not share them with us? They aren't to the tastes of everyone but it was always odds on that we were going to be heavily linked, rightly or wrongly, with transfer activity during the summer thanks to the wedge that was brought in from the sale of Andy Carroll. If we can use that to get the players that we are supposed to be in for then you would have to say that selling Carroll would have gone some way towards setting us up for the future.

That is of course of this transfer speculation firms up. If it doesn't and we don't improve then questions will surely be asked about why we sold Carroll and where the money went. This is what fans are waiting to see - signs of improvement and progression - although I understand entirely why people remain sceptical.

Remember we have had more bad windows than good windows recently!