Newcastle United boss Joe Kinnear knows the players he would like to bring to St James' Park in January. "We need two players in as soon as possible, and I have them in mind," he admitted.

"One is with Roma and isn't in the team at the moment. The other has already scored against us this season."

Following Kinnear's substantial clue about a Roma player, one man who has been heavily linked is former Liverpool player John Arne Riise.

It has been suggested that Arsenal's 20-year-old midfielder Denilson is Kinnear's other target as he scored in the Gunners' 3-0 win earlier this season, but 23 players have scored against Newcastle this term.

"I have already got my shortlist ready and I will be giving it to Mike," said the 61-year-old.

"I know their agents and what they would be is loan deals from January until the end of the season. I already know the player in Rome would cost us £2m to bring over here.

"We need to strengthen the team and the squad and, if we can get them, they would be a big boost because both are top-class players."