There was news in late January that Newcastle scout Graham Carr was watching a number of Valenciennes games, and it seems the player that has caught his attention is Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, who was born in France and is of Haitian descent.
Nicolas Isimat-Mirin – 21 year old powerful center-back
Nicholas only turned 21 last November, so he could be one for the future, and if Fabricio Coloccini leaves the club in the summer then Newcastle would need to bring in another center-back – and it could be this lad.
Newcastle have Steven Taylor, Mike Williamson and Yanga-Mbiwa who can play in central defense if Fab leaves, and of course 19 year-old Curtis Good has been getting some great experience out on loan at Bradford, and the Australian has played 8 games for the Bradford side, and will be a better player in pre-season than he was a year ago.
So it seems as though Newcastle could bring in a younger player like 21 year-old Isimat-Mirin, who can be given time to grow into the position – and if we’ve got our color schemes right – that puts him as a blue player – just below the purples.
Isimat-Mirin stands 6’2″ tall and is a former graduate of the Clairefontaine Academy in France, and when he left the Academy he joined Rennes and spent two seasons there before moving to Valenciennes in 2008.
Here’s some video of the player in action – and he’s good technically and very strong on the ball.
From what we can tell this lad looks like a very good prospect – but if we have readers who have seen him play let us know what he’s like.
Comments welcome.
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8 comments so far
mauritius island
Feb 17, 2013 at 4:45 AM
Comment #11st from mauritius island
mauritius island
Feb 17, 2013 at 4:56 AM
Comment #2FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE 2012/13
join my league
newcastle forever & ever
code..140162-580038
welcome
game week 27 starting point
Ben3arfa
Feb 17, 2013 at 6:30 AM
Comment #3That video shows that he is comfortable with the ball but his distribution forward is wayward at times.
definitely an upgrade from Williamson though
Moat1
Feb 17, 2013 at 7:47 AM
Comment #4hed be a good replacement 4 simmo. if we sell willow then weneed 2 get douglas or alderweirld
Graeme
Feb 17, 2013 at 10:04 AM
Comment #5If Collo is offski, we cant rely on Saylor, he spends 60% of his life on the treatment table.
Mbiwa is probably the most skillful CB we have and we need to sign someone to complement him, to form our “Long-term” CB pairing, maybe Douglas is the answer??
That would give us M’biwa & Douglas, with Mirin as back-up with Saylor. Poor old Willo could be on his way even though he has played his heart out for us.
GeordieDan
Feb 17, 2013 at 10:30 AM
Comment #6TorqToon>
What do you think of this kid? You seen much of him play?
He looks very promising-fast and technical but I would never judge a player based just on a Youtube clip-especially a clip that has him playing against just 1 team as well.
Might have just had 1 decent game against a poor Renne opposition on the day.
NEWEXPATMAGPIE
Feb 17, 2013 at 11:29 AM
Comment #7I was , once upon a time a Douglas fan, but since he got his Dutch passport, he has,nt played at all well for Twente ! The whole point of getting his Dutch Nationality was to play for Holland but Louis van Gaal is not picking him! Because he has,nt been playing well the last few months?
Aalderweirld is een andere story, much prefer this lad to Douglas!
oldbobaycliffe
Feb 17, 2013 at 8:45 PM
Comment #8curtis good hasn,t been in bradfords team lately in his last two games he has been an unused sub