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While Brazil and Argentina traditionally lead the way in international transfers of domestic talent, across the Atlantic none in Europe can match the rate at which the French produce players. And only half of them have ended up at Newcastle this January.
Newcastle, or Nouveau-Chateaux as some are already labelling them in jest, have been dipping their hands into the French market with increased regularity in the last two years. With the club struggling near the foot of the Premier League at present, they seem to have gone into overdrive in a ruthless raid of the country’s available talent this month. In has come Massaido Haidara, the Nancy full-back, another full-back, Mathieu Debuchy, arrived from Lille, forward Yoan Gouffran was signed from Bordeaux, Moussa Sissoko snapped up from Toulouse and arguably the best acquisition of the lot, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, arrived from Montpellier.
The French splurge has left manager Alan Pardew with some tricky questions to answer after comments were dug up about his belief that English teams should have an English spine. The humble pie Pardew has to eat is particularly galling seeing as the team he was criticising when he made those comments were Arsenal, the last side to raid the French market. In fairness to Pardew, he has directly answered the questions posed to him, explaining that essentially having an English core is not affordable. And he is right.
Financially, there is no doubt that what the Magpies are doing is smart – Newcastle have, unlike many of their Premier League rivals, avoided the inflated prices of English football. It is unknown precisely how long it took for Mike Ashley to finish chuckling to himself and accept Liverpool’s £35M offer for Andy Carroll back in 2011, but in a country where James Milner costs barely £10M less, there is simply no value to be had. If these players were French, it would be a stretch to think either would be worth £10M. And so Newcastle have set their sights on the league that provides the best value for money.
Cabaye, an international quality central midfielder, was signed in the summer of 2011 from the then-reigning French champions Lille for £5M, while an English equivalent, Jordan Henderson, was swapping the North East for the North West to sign for Liverpool for four times that figure. And why would a star like Cabaye trade Champions League football for Newcastle? Simply, for a player typically earning around £20,000 a week in France, a doubling of salary across the channel is quite the temptation. Yanga-Mbiwa is another absolute steal at £6M, and Hatem Ben Arfa cost a similar figure. The business acumen that helped Ashley build his sportswear empire is coming to fruition in the world of football.
And France is not just an affordable market, but a good halfway house between Spain and England. The country produces technical players following their grassroots revolution of the 1990s, but the main difference with Spain is that there is more emphasis on speed. Allied to the fact that, as French football rakes in relatively little in revenues compared to Europe’s biggest leagues and in particular the Premier League, this also helps to keep prices down.
Newcastle have certainly bought quality for the most part. Debuchy is one who stands out, his marauding runs the major plus for France at Euro 2012, where he shone. The full-back should add real quality going forward for Newcastle, while he will link up with international team-mate Yanga-Mbiwa in defence. The former Montpellier man was absolutely critical to his side’s shock Ligue 1 triumph last year and has impressed since being brought into the international fold. His intelligence, anticipation and strength mean he has the attributes to adapt well to England and he could help bring solidity to a defence which has been leaking goals alarmingly this season.
Gouffran is another smart signing, Newcastle pouncing for a renowned finisher who had just six months left on his contract in France. His pace and two-footed ability mean he can be a more versatile forward than Demba Ba, whose place in the squad he will take, although he will have to do well to replace the Senegalese star’s goals. Haidara is more of a gamble and long term bet. The 20-year-old has impressed despite his former team Nancy’s troubles in Ligue 1, although he will have a lot to do to develop into a Premier League quality left-back.
Sissoko, the fifth acquisition, is a strong central midfield presence who could link up well with Vurnon Anita and Cheick Tiote to boost Newcastle’s spine and impressed on his debut against Aston Villa.
Still, never has an English team featured such a heavy contingent of one particular nationality. In addition to Haidara, Debuchy, Gouffran, Sissoko and Yanga-Mbiwa, Newcastle already have Cabaye, Romain Amalfitano, Gabriel Obertan, Ben Arfa and Sylvain Marveaux. And the Magpies almost signed Loic Remy, before Queens Park Rangers snatched him away. Pardew is a goalkeeper away from being able to field a French national ‘C’ team. With Papiss Cisse, Gael Bigirimana and Tiote all French-speaking, Pardew may have been brushing up on his French. Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson’s criticism of Newcastle was nothing of the sort – maybe he meant not that they were a ‘wee club’, but a ‘oui club’, such is the francophone influence emanating from the North East. The only notable teams in recent memory to have been able to field such a strong contingent of one particular foreign nationality are the Inter Milan side of 2005/06, which included eight Argentines, and the Barcelona outfit under Louis van Gaal, dominated by his fellow Dutchmen.
As Haidara commented after his move: “This is a Ligue 1 team in the English league”, adding that the French influence was a factor in choosing Newcastle. He also felt that it would help him to ‘adapt’. Yet will it really? The danger when the majority of players in the dressing room are one particular nationality is that they come to dominate and take over. This could become a transplantation of French culture on an English club, rather than forcing the new recruits to adapt to their surroundings. If a clique develops similar to the Brazilians at Shakhtar Donetsk, there is that danger.
Then again, if Newcastle match Shakhtar Donetsk’s success of recent years, Ashley and Pardew probably won’t care too much about that. Pardew has revealed that any of the new players who don’t learn the language will be sanctioned, which may be a bit rich given that Graham Carr, the man who does their scouting in France, can barely muster a word of their language.
It is likely at least in the short term that Newcastle will rely rather more heavily on their existing Frenchmen. Ben Arfa was in brilliant form last season, but has suffered with injuries this season. The same is true of the playmaker Cabaye, recently returned to the first team. It was notable how Cabaye and Marveaux ran the game against Reading recently, but when both were taken off, the visitors bounced back to win 2-1. Marveaux in particular has been like a new signing of late, having suffered with injury after his transfer to the club last season. His close control and creativity, allied with a sharp eye for a pass, have been one of the few positives in a miserable campaign to date.
Can the French save Newcastle’s season? It is certainly a gamble, although as calculated risks go, this is a well-judged one. And the French are looking on with interest at their proxy Premier League team, cheering them on in their battle this season, with the club’s increased profile over the channel underlined by L’Equipe’s front cover on Wednesday, showing a picture of Cabaye firing in the opening goal against Aston Villa, under the caption “they love them already”. This French love affair has a long way to run yet.
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