Newcastle's Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa praised by James Perch and Vurnon Anita
The defender has made an excellent impression at Newcastle since his January arrival. Newcastle United duo James Perch and Vurnon Anita have no doubts defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is quickly developing into a star at the club.
The £7million January signing from Montpellier has already established himself at St James' Park and again impressed in Thursday's goalless draw at Anzhi Makhachkala.
And ahead of Sunday's Premier League game against Stoke City, Perch, who played alongside Yanga-Mbiwa in Russia in the Europa League, has been greatly impressed by his new team-mate.
"Mapou has got everything in his locker. He is a strong runner, he is quick, he heads it well. Whoever scouted him for us did their job brilliantly, because he looks a fantastic player"
James Perch
He said: "Mapou has got everything in his locker. He is a strong runner, he is quick, he heads it well. Whoever scouted him for us did their job brilliantly, because he looks a fantastic player.
"He's very calm at the back and although we speak different languages, so communication isn't as easy as it could be, he reads the game very well and that helps massively.
"It has been great playing alongside him and if he plays like that every week he is going to have a great future at Newcastle.
"He is the type of player who looks very calm and that gets picked up by his team-mates. He is a top-class player, no doubt about it and the club have done really well to get him."
Midfielder Anita also thinks Yanga-Mbiwa's pace will be a vital asset for Newcastle in the future after his fine display in preventing the likes of Anzhi's Samuel Eto'o from scoring.
Anita said: "He had an excellent game, as did the whole of the defence and the goalkeeper.
"He is quick and he helped to stop Anzhi whenever they looked to try and build. He took everything in his stride and to mark top players out of a game takes some doing.
"I can't remember them having many chances and we had a few of our own, so it was a good display."
Seems he has made a good impression on the lads already. He certainly looks classy. If we can keep hold of Colo then we have good competition at CB. But if not, then Mbiwa will become he heart of our defence from next season - hopefully for a few years to come.
The defender has made an excellent impression at Newcastle since his January arrival. Newcastle United duo James Perch and Vurnon Anita have no doubts defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is quickly developing into a star at the club.
The £7million January signing from Montpellier has already established himself at St James' Park and again impressed in Thursday's goalless draw at Anzhi Makhachkala.
And ahead of Sunday's Premier League game against Stoke City, Perch, who played alongside Yanga-Mbiwa in Russia in the Europa League, has been greatly impressed by his new team-mate.
"Mapou has got everything in his locker. He is a strong runner, he is quick, he heads it well. Whoever scouted him for us did their job brilliantly, because he looks a fantastic player"
James Perch
He said: "Mapou has got everything in his locker. He is a strong runner, he is quick, he heads it well. Whoever scouted him for us did their job brilliantly, because he looks a fantastic player.
"He's very calm at the back and although we speak different languages, so communication isn't as easy as it could be, he reads the game very well and that helps massively.
"It has been great playing alongside him and if he plays like that every week he is going to have a great future at Newcastle.
"He is the type of player who looks very calm and that gets picked up by his team-mates. He is a top-class player, no doubt about it and the club have done really well to get him."
Midfielder Anita also thinks Yanga-Mbiwa's pace will be a vital asset for Newcastle in the future after his fine display in preventing the likes of Anzhi's Samuel Eto'o from scoring.
Anita said: "He had an excellent game, as did the whole of the defence and the goalkeeper.
"He is quick and he helped to stop Anzhi whenever they looked to try and build. He took everything in his stride and to mark top players out of a game takes some doing.
"I can't remember them having many chances and we had a few of our own, so it was a good display."
Seems he has made a good impression on the lads already. He certainly looks classy. If we can keep hold of Colo then we have good competition at CB. But if not, then Mbiwa will become he heart of our defence from next season - hopefully for a few years to come.

