Archive
Tavernier Seeking French Lesson From Debuchy
Written by Newcastle Utd
James Tavernier has hailed new boy Mathieu Debuchy as a "great signing" and hopes to learn from the French full-back
By Dan King - Newcastle United Club Reporter
He's won 12 caps for his country, played at a European Championships and in the Champions League and, according to James Tavernier, Newcastle United's new signing Mathieu Debuchy is the perfect player to learn from.
Like Debuchy, Tavernier is an attack-minded right-back and the Bradford born 21-year-old has already enjoyed watching the January arrival from Lille at close quarters in training over the past few days.
The French 27-year-old is set to make his Magpies debut at Norwich on Saturday and Academy product Tavernier, who has made two Barclays Premier League appearances this season, believes his own game will improve from studying Debuchy's - but he has also vowed to push the Fretin-born full-back and the injured Danny Simpson for a place in Alan Pardew's starting XI.
"Everyone in the team offers different things and obviously with an international now, you can learn a lot of things from players like that," Tavernier told nufc.co.uk.
"It adds more competition to the team and that's what you want in the team - more competition around you.
"You don't want people to have too safe a position where they know they're going to play next week.
"You want it to be really competitive so the team are really fired up, so I think it's a great signing for the club."
Click here to buy a Newcastle United shirt with Debuchy's name and number on the back