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Hello and welcome to the Newcastle United live blog for Wednesday, January 3rd.

Newcastle United beat Stoke City 1-0 and started 2018 with victory and three vital points in the battle against relegation.

Manager Rafa Benitez will now turn his attention to who he can bring into the club with the January transfer window now open.

We'll have the latest on the takeover and also January transfer rumours that are starting to stack up.

As ever we want to hear from you, so please send us your thoughts over Facebook at www.facebook.com/chroniclenufc/ or on Twitter at @ChronicleNUFC.

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Stoke City vs Newcastle United

Perez on building momentum

He said after scoring the winner against Stoke:

“It’s massive. Every team tries to protect themselves and get points and be strong in their own stadium.

“Against two important teams, we have done it. It’s really important. We will now focus on our form at home - that can be much better - but we have to keep pushing.

“This [FA Cup] game could be good for whoever’s playing. We’re at home. We will try to improve our form at home and get a good result and be competitive.

“The next league game is also at home against Swansea, so it’s going to be two important weeks. We have to be ready for it because we need to get more points. It’s going to be important.”

Full story is here: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ayoze-perez-how-newcastle-can-14104817

Recap of yesterday's transfer gossip

Transfer window was only in its second day but there’s plenty of news floating about which we’ll of course continue to monitor. Including:

  • Cenk Tosun’s move to Everton is in doubt, with Besiktas reportedly upping their asking price to £27m
  • Real Madrid are open to selling Kiko Casilla in January, having blocked the goalkeeper’s move to Newcastle in the summer
  • Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says he will only allow players to leave Chelsea this month if they sign replacements first, casting doubt over Newcastle’s chances of landing Kenedy
  • Rivals Huddersfield have made an early march in transfer window. They’ve secured a coup signing of Terence Kongolo from Monaco
  • Steve Harper wants to see Freddie Woodman make his Newcastle debut in the FA Cup against Luton on Saturday
  • Matt Le Tissier believes Newcastle need a new striker, midfielder and goalkeeper in the January window

Welcome

Hello and welcome to today’s live blog where we’ll be following all the day’s top news, views and transfer gossip around NUFC.

Here’s the top stories on the site right now: