It's Sant-on

Might a breakthrough in the search for a new left-back at last be nigh? According to his agent Claudio Vigorelli, Davide Santon is very close to joining us from Inter. We continue to be linked with both PSV's Erik Pieters and Lyon's Aly Cissokho, but it would seem the Italian is now the likeliest candidate to fill Jose Enrique's boots.

In the parallel quest to sharpen up our attack, a new name was tossed into the ring on Friday: Freiburg's Papiss Cisse. Demba Ba's compatriot is also apparently wanted by Sunday's opponents Fulham and the Mackems. Also mentioned as a possible target is Chelsea attacking midfielder Yossi Benayoun, though any deal for Mevlut Erdinc is now definitely dead, with his nouveau riche club PSG stating his services will be retained.