Newcastle United yesterday confirmed Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa as their seventh French signing in 18 months, and two more could follow today.
If Bordeaux's Yoan Gouffran is to be believed, he is en route to Newcastle and left-back Massadio Haïdara could be joining him from Nancy.
This is all quite ironic when one recalls Newcastle manager Alan Pardew's quotes from 2006 after Arsène Wenger's French-dominated Arsenal reached the Champions League final.
"I saw a headline saying Arsenal are flying the flag for Britain," he said.
![](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5d0a39a52100009518f3aa42.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa arrives at a St James's Park
"I kind of wondered where that British involvement actually was when I looked at their team.
"It's important that top clubs don't lose sight of the fact that it's the English Premier League and English players should be involved."
Newcastle's chief scout, Graham Carr (father of Alan) has identified some brilliant bargains, from £5m lynchpin Yohan Cabaye to £5.5m Mathieu Debuchy, perhaps the best right-back at Euro 2012.
Carr was rewarded for his good work with an eight-year contract last year (as was Pardew).
And if more than one of the French faction are injured at the same time, they are hereby dubbed the crocked monsieurs.