Mathieu Debuchy, Yoan Gouffran and Mapou Yanga-Mwiba have already joined fellow countrymen Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gabriel Obertan and Sylvain Marveaux at the club, with Massadio Haidara and possibly Moussa Sissoko – to follow before January is out.
Steven Taylor: “People work hard and pay their money, and up here football is all they talk about all week.
“Places like London, they might talk about football over the weekend, and possibly carry it over into work on Monday if they have got friends at work who are into it.
“But up here they talk about it all the time. You go shopping and there’s old grannies talking about it, which is great because it gives you a kick up the backside.
“I was getting hammered when I wasn’t even playing, and I was getting told off by old women.
“That’s part and parcel of what being a Newcastle United player is all about, and the French lads have got to realise that.”