No deal for Pieters in January

Erik Pieters is a name that is fairly familiar to fans of Newcastle United after months and months of him being linked with a switch to St James' Park.

In fact a deal was very nearly done in the summer although a disagreement between the NUFC and Pieters' agent seemed to put the skids under any potential transfer and in the end nothing came of it.

It seemed nailed on that we'd be back for the Dutch international at some point as, being brunt, he is exactly the type of player we need, especially given our current defensive injury crisis. He can play at left-back and in the centre of defence which would kill two birds with one stone and address a fairly large weakness in our squad.

However it appears that PSV Eindhoven are not interested in selling the 23-year-old in the upcoming transfer window. PSC Sporting Director, Marcel Brands spoke to Goal.com exclusively and insisted that no players will be leaving the Philips Stadion in January.

"We are not looking to sell any players at all,” explained Brands. “We are in the race for the title. We are in second place with one game in the Eredivisie and one game in the Europa League to go."

“We want to finish with wins then we have a short winter break. I don’t expect something to happen to our squad.”

Brands was then quizzed about the possibility of a revival of a deal with Newcastle regarding Pieters, to which he replied:

“No, because, first thing, we won’t sell in the winter and, second thing, he is injured. We think he will be fit again in February and we look forward to him playing again for us.”

I seriously can't see Newcastle bidding to a level where PSV simply have to sell to be honest so I think this one is pretty much dead in the water, or seems to be anyway. It's a shame really as getting him in would no doubt sit favourably with Tim Krul given the fact they are mates and all,plus, as said earlier on, he would go some way to solving our defensive lightness.

However there is an urgency with regards to our defender hunt. Put simply our need is now and I honestly don't think we could take a punt on Pieters and wait until February for him to be fit again, and then perhaps March to be match fit again.

Needs must, and Pieters no longer fits our need.