French connection

It's been confirmed today that, as reported a while back, we've signed Lille's Yohan Cabaye for around the £4.5m mark."This is a fantastic move for me". Let's hope it's a fantastic move for the club too, Yohan.

The recruitment of an international player of a good age and reputation, and for whom we've actually paid a reasonably hefty fee, will go some way towards assuaging fans' concerns about the prospect of losing both Kevin Nolan and ASBO - but, as a defensive midfielder, Cabaye won't exactly fill their boots. In any case, as has been underlined by Alan Pardew, what we need is reinforcements not replacements. It'll be interesting to see if our enthusiastic observation of the French and Dutch leagues - widely perceived as offering better value for money than elsewhere in Europe - results in any other new acquisitions.

Meanwhile, Agent Chopra is on the move, leaving beaten play-off semi-finalists Cardiff for Championship rivals Ipswich. While the Welsh side will be licking their wounds (they've also parted company with Jay Bothroyd, Chris Burke and manager Dave Jones since the season finished) and facing up to the difficulties of making the play-offs next year, bookies in Suffolk will be eagerly rubbing their hands in glee at the news of Chops' arrival...