Double Dutch deal for United?

United bound? It would seem that Newcastle have moved on to other targets following their failure to land Mathieu Debuchy from Lille, and one of those other targets is believed to be Ajax right-back Gregory van der Wiel.

Rumour has it that Newcastle are looking to tie up a deal for a pair of Dutch internationals from Ajax in the shape of van der Wiel and another name that has become familiar to us over the summer - Vurnon Anita. A fee of £10million has been mentioned although I personally feel it will cost us more if we want to secure the pair.

Of course we've heard the lines that we've moved onto other targets before only to see our original target turn up at St James' Park a bit further down the line, but with time running out in the transfer window and the season fast approaching the need for reinforcements couldn't be greater. We need a breakthrough and we need it soon.

It's almost reached the point where I've been pretty much ignoring all rumours and steering clear of the web as I'm pretty much resigned to nothing happening in the transfer market, and if it does it will be a pleasant surprise. I've just used this latest rumour to have a bit of a whinge more than anything if truth be told.

By now we're all aware of the transfer policy and I, for one, am not surprised that qualifying for the Europa League has signalled no change in direction from the board. Why would it? The money on offer is, realistically, hardly worth bothering with in fairness.

However there is the fact that we need to strengthen to remain competitive at the top end of the Premier League table. I don't think we're in as bad a state as some are making out as some of our younger players and other new signings have looked as though they could play a part for us this season, but there is still room for improvement.

As for Vurnon Anita and Gregory van der Wiel... I doubt it very much...