Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has been warned he risks a problem by putting too many French players together in his team.
Newcastle's struggles in the Premier League this season have convinced the club to invest heavily in the squad in January - with Ligue 1 proving a fruitful hunting ground.
The Magpies have already tied up deals for Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio Haïdara and Yoan Gouffran in recent days.
That would bring the total of French players at the club to 10 with Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Romain Amalfitano, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan, Mathieu Debuchy and Mehdi Abeid already, while Cheick Tioté, Gaël Bigirimana and Papiss Demba Cissé are also French speakers.
With French footballers having officially supplanted the Dutch as Europe's most difficult to handle, ex-Liverpool boss Gérard Houllier believes the large colony of French players will be a problem for the Premier League club.
Houllier, now the global adviser at New York Red Bulls, said: "The Newcastle dressing room will be totally unbalanced.
"You can't stop French speaking French together. There'll be problems."
Meanwhile, forward Sammy Ameobi has joked on Twitter that he will need to start learning French just to be able to get on with his new teammates.
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| This is what Newcastle United could have as their new logo Photo: Troll Football |
Newcastle's struggles in the Premier League this season have convinced the club to invest heavily in the squad in January - with Ligue 1 proving a fruitful hunting ground.
The Magpies have already tied up deals for Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio Haïdara and Yoan Gouffran in recent days.
That would bring the total of French players at the club to 10 with Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Romain Amalfitano, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan, Mathieu Debuchy and Mehdi Abeid already, while Cheick Tioté, Gaël Bigirimana and Papiss Demba Cissé are also French speakers.
With French footballers having officially supplanted the Dutch as Europe's most difficult to handle, ex-Liverpool boss Gérard Houllier believes the large colony of French players will be a problem for the Premier League club.
Houllier, now the global adviser at New York Red Bulls, said: "The Newcastle dressing room will be totally unbalanced.
"You can't stop French speaking French together. There'll be problems."
Meanwhile, forward Sammy Ameobi has joked on Twitter that he will need to start learning French just to be able to get on with his new teammates.
Need to brush up on my French because this is just getting ridiculous lol
— Samuel Ameobi (@Sammy_Ameobi) January 22, 2013
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