Newcastle United and it's French Legion.

Any idea what the players in the above picture share in common, well, apart from displaying the shirt of their new club? The picture dates back to January 2013 when these three players crossed border to sign for Newcastle United, all from the French League. Their signing brought to ten (10) the number of French players on the Roster of the club. Now throw in two Argentinians,two Dutchmen, two Nigerians, and a player each from Switzerland, Senegal and Slovenia, and what you have left of the team is a handful of English players.

First it was Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan and Romain Amalfitano. But really, when does many becomes too many? That is the question that comes to mind when news filtered in that Newcastle United are close to signing Lyon player Bafetimbi Gomis as well as QPR's French striker Loic Remy having already signed 16yr old Olivier Kemen from Metz. (Three more French players to take the number to thirteen)

No one objects to the signing of good players from overseas but when they are so many from a particular region, it becomes worrying as there are bound to be divisions in the team, more especially as the core of the players are non-English speaking. Usually when a non-English speaking player comes into an English club, the zeal to learn the new Language usually takes priority over every other things but in a situation where half of the player's team mates speak same language, the desire to learn English language becomes rather secondary. The fear of isolation is no longer there. Naturally such player feels most comfortable among his country-men and consequently, his level of interaction with his other mates and fans in general is hindered.

Yes, players from the French league are technically sound,strong and most importantly come cheap but at what price? 

While some may argue that you can't pick out a top-6 team in the Premiership devoid of foreign players dominance, it is however pertinent to note that some of them still parade key local players as symbol of the club. There is Lampard and Terry in Chelsea, Gerrard and Carragher in Liverpool, Rooney and Ferdinand in Manchester United, Walcott and Wilshere in Arsenal, and even Joe Hart in Manchester City. 

Ever wondered why Teesside derbies nowadays aren't as feisty as it used to be? The answer to that lies in the local contents of the club. There aren't many locals in the team that truly understands what local bragging right is all about or what the Geordie badge stands for .... The likes of Steven Taylor is the closest Newcastle now has as a local boy, and sadly he is becoming a less important figure in the team due to injuries and loss of form.

For a big club with strong follower-ship like Newcastle United, the growing number of players from the French league is gradually turning the club into the French National Team B, a situation not good enough for a proud club like Newcastle. It is unthinkable what happens to the team if it loses five of the contingent to the National team all in one swoop, after-all, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Gouffran, Debuchy, Sissoko are all in the French National team set-up.