Magpies winning
Tyne-wear tug of war
The desire of Alan Pardew and Martin O'Neill to add a striker to their squad in the January transfer window has led them to the same player, Papiss Demba Cisse.
An international colleague of Magpies forward Demba Ba and in the Senegal squad for the imminent African Cup of Nations finals, the 26 year-old has netted nine times in the Bundesliga for Freiburg so far this season.
United were credited with an interest in Cisse back in August 2011 but appeared to concentrate their efforts on the cheaper option of acquiring Modibo Maiga from Sochaux - only for that move to then break down.
There's no mention of any deal for Cisse on Freiburg's website as yet, but the relegation-threatened side were able to confirm the signing of Cologne forward Sebastien Freis on Tuesday.
With Frei is their Cisse replacement and whether Cisse could be lined up to play in black and white alongside Ba - or as his successor - remains to be seen.
:spinwank: