Newcastle close in on striker.

Newcastle are ready to up their offer for Paris St Germain striker Mevlut Erdinc in the hope that it will be enough to conclude the deal.

The only offer thus far has been £5 million from Newcastle, but with PSG quoting prices of £8 million we've come up short. However it does seem that both clubs recognise the need for compromise and a bid of £6.5 million has apparently been submitted by the Tyneside outfit, which PSG have indicated would be enough.

It seems as though we're very keen on bringing Erdinc to NUFC as we've been linked with him for over a year now. I don't really know what he is like as a player in truth, but from the Dennis Wise style scouting videos I've seen of him he looks like he can finish and has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Goalscoring seems to be one of the problems have with him. Granted he isn't the most prolific striker that has ever graced the football field, but it doesn't mean to say that he is rubbish. He might not be an out-and-out striker, like Craig Bellamy for example. Bellamy's strike-rate was about one in three for us, but his impact on the team when he was playing was far greater. Maybe Erdinc will be the same if he ever moves to Newcastle?

If we did end up with the Turkish international we can still expect another striker to join them on top. Alan Pardew said in midweek that he is looking to add two more strikers, and that was after the capture of Demba Ba. We'll see on that.

This rumoured transfer has been going on for a while now, so it's about time either something concrete developed or we moved on to other targets. The ironic thing is that another Toon target, Kevin Gameiro, could have paved the way for this move to finally happen.

You watch, the 'move' will be off again tomorrow.....