Massadio Haïdara: YouTube Showreel for Latest Newcastle United Transfer Target

According to The Guardian, Newcastle United and AS Nancy-Lorraine are close to finalising a deal for left-back Massadio Haidara.

The transfer will see the highly rated French full-back move to Tyneside this month and provide immediate competition and cover for Davide Santon.

Here's a little YouTube extract of his performance, and the first thing you'll notice is that he's an absolute physical specimen.

He's fast, he's strong and he's agile—the perfect mixture for the modern full-back.

Haidara is still learning his trade and overcooks his touch on occasion, and he's also shown himself to be a little limited in possession.

The framework is there for an extraordinary player, but Alan Pardew will have some serious coaching to do to coax this prospect to life.

WhoScored? has done a feature on Haidara in the past, labeling him one of Europe's finest up-and-coming full-backs. He and Lucas Digne have been fighting for the right to be the top starlet in Ligue 1 for six months now.

The statistics back the film in a positive fashion—Haidara is averaging an impressive three tackles and three interceptions per game, showing good understanding and proving he's not just mobile, but clever too.

Unfortunately, the concerns over his passing are also confirmed. He's only averaging 32.8 passes per game, but he can still only complete 77.2 percent of them. It must be noted, though, that his club are bottom of Ligue 1 fighting an uphill battle every single weekend.

He's practically the opposite of Santon—one can tackle and cross, one can't.

If Alan Pardew could combine the two...never mind. Splicing footballers probably crosses a line.

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