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Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is in talks with St Etienne and now looks certain to be on his way out of St James’ Park.

We can reveal the Newcastle United defender has spoken to the French club and all that is required is for a fee to be agreed.

Newcastle would be looking to recoup as much of the £6.7m they paid for the central defender 18 months ago from Montpellier.

But they will have to settle for much less, perhaps even half of that fee, although there is a chance he could go out on loan.

St Etienne are far from the only Ligue 1 club who have been courting the 25-year-old.

Both Lens and Bordeaux made a move for the him, but were unable to match his demands.

We understand that St Etienne are confident a deal of some kind can be completed this week.

Yanga-Mbiwa’s time on Tyneside has been ultimately a frustrating one.

He arrived with a well-earned reputation as one of Europe’s best young defenders after captaining Montpellier to the league title.

After a decent start, he was far from a regular in Alan Pardew’s side and, by the end of last season, he was mainly an unused substitute, or he was played at full-back, a position he clearly did not relish.

This will leave Newcastle with just three natural established central defenders – Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson and Steven Taylor.