Faye moves to Magpies

Newcastle have wrapped up the capture of midfielder Amdy Faye from Portsmouth.

Faye successfully underwent a medical on Tyneside before putting pen-to-paper on a contract with The Magpies.

The Senegal international is joining Newcastle for a fee in the region of £2 million and Magpies boss Graeme Souness is delighted with his new acquisition.

"We are delighted to have him on board and he will be a really valuable addition to our squad," Souness told the club's official website.

"Amdy is a defensive midfield player which is an area we have been looking to strengthen."

With Nicky Butt plagued by a nagging injury, Faye has signed at the right time for Newcastle, who have endured a fitful season in The Premiership.

The 27-year-old is believed to have inked a three-and-a-half year contract at St James' Park and is eligible to make his debut in this weekend's FA Cup fourth round tie against Coventry City.

In moving to the North East, Faye links up with former Auxerre team-mate, and fellow new recruit, Jean-Alain Boumsong.

The duo played together at Auxerre before Faye signed for Portsmouth in a £1.5 million deal in the summer of 2003.

He made 52 appearances for Pompey but bid farewell to his time at Fratton Park by being sent off against Blackburn Rovers on his last outing for the club.

His departure from the South Coast club further depletes Velimir Zajec's midfield options with Nigel Quashie having recently moved along the shore to arch-rivals Southampton.

Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric has lined up three new arrivals at the club for this week and it is likely one of the fresh faces will prove to be a midfielder.

Mandaric's Newcastle counterpart Freddy Shepherd will be hoping the swoop for Faye will deflect some of the attention away from the controversy surrounding Craig Bellamy at present.

Meanwhile, Pompey striker Tresor Lomana Lua Lua has been fined £5,000, and handed an extra one-game ban, by The Football Association.

Lua Lua has been punished due to his failure to leave the pitch following his recent sending off against Blackburn which had earned the forward a three-game suspension.