Newcastle United are working hard to complete a deal for Bordeaux striker Yoan Gouffran as they attempt to find a replacement for recently departed forward Demba Ba.

Bordeaux have already turned down an initial offer of £750,000 from Newcastle but manager Alan Pardew is keen to get his man and it is expected that there will be an improved offer later today.

Yoan Gouffran
Yoan Gouffran in action for Bordeaux earlier this season [Reuters]

Newcastle have already lost out on one striker when Loic Remy decided to move to struggling Queens Park Rangers and they will be desperate not to miss out again in their pursuit of Gouffran.

The 26-year-old will become a free agent in the summer when his contract runs out but Newcastle are desperate to sign a striker before the end of the month as they attempt to turn around their fortunes.

Newcastle are now just two points clear of the relegation zone after their 2-1 defeat to Reading at St. James Park and have looked desperately short of ideas as to how to stop their drastic slide towards the bottom three.

The Northern Echo believes that Bordeaux are holding out for at least £1.5million which Newcastle may be unwilling to pay for a player who will cost nothing if they wait until the summer.

Gouffran has scored eight league goals this season and did feature in the Europa League against Newcastle. He is renowned for his pace but has never been prolific in front of goal and has just 30 league goals in 133 appearances for Bordeaux.

However, he would offer Newcastle another option which they are desperate for after being forced to sell Ba to Chelsea. Papiss Cisse has struggled to replicate his form from last season and after Shola Ameobi there is little choice for Pardew.

While Newcastle fans wait to hear whether they will finally land the striker they will be playing close attention to Gouffran's twitter account after he said there would be "news soon...".

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