Newcastle will be looking to strengthen their midfield in the January transfer window if Emre gets his wish to quit the club and return to Turkey.

The midfielder has revealed his intention to return to his former club Galatasaray.

Emre is back in his home country on international duty and played the full 90 minutes of Turkey's disappointing 2-2 draw with Malta in their Euro 2008 qualifier on Saturday. He is expected to line up for the Turks against Hungary tomorrow.

Emre has featured only once for Newcastle this term, against Barnsley in the Carling Cup, but that has been more to do with the fact that the former Inter Milan playmaker has been injured rather than being out of favour.

The £3.8m signing admitted after Turkey's draw with Malta that: "I want to go back to Galatasaray, and they want me."

The 27-year-old's admission brought encouragement from Galatasaray's vice-president Adnan Polat who said: "This is a transfer we can do in January."

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce wasn't keen to add to the speculation when he was quizzed on the subject, but said: "It's not an issue at the moment. There's no chance of him going back to Turkey because the transfer window is shut, so he can't go anywhere."

Should Emre get his wish and move back to the country of his birth then Newcastle will find themselves short in midfield.

The club was linked with Barcelona star Deco prior to the summer transfer window closing and Newcastle fans would welcome a player of his calibre at St James' Park.

The United boss, meanwhile, was happy to talk more about his and England's in-form striker Micheal Owen.

Owen made it three goals in three outings for club and country when he spectacularly netted for Steve McClaren's side in their European qualifier at Wembley against Israel at the weekend.

Allardyce believes Owen's return to full fitness is not only crucial for England's chances of qualifying for next summer's European Championships but a huge benefit to a successful season on Tyneside.

"It's great for England, but it's also great for Newcastle United," said Allardyce. "It's so good to see Michael doing what he is so good at, which is scoring goals fluently.

"His goal against Israel was extremely clever and such a good finish from outside the box.

"He's looking comfortable and recovering well from his problems.

"That's another 90 minutes under his belt, too, and that can only be good for him and us.

"Now we want to keep him fit, and obviously that is on your mind with another high profile game against Russia on Wednesday coming up.

"Hopefully Michael comes through it again like he did on Saturday."