While there have been many French success stories at Newcastle United, some, such as Florian Thauvin or Gabriel Obertan, didn’t go so well.
Another who had a very iffy time at St James’ Park, although perhaps not as torrid as the other two, was Rémy Cabella.
Bought from Montpellier after a couple of great seasons for the Ligue 1 side, the midfielder was involved in a £9m move that saw him stay in the north of England for just two campaigns, which included a loan to Marseille in his second year.
He only ever made 34 appearances for Newcastle, and now finds himself at FK Krasnodar in Russia, set to face Rennes in the Champions League.
Ahaed of the clash, Ouest-France looked at the player’s career and had a chat with one of his former managers, Rolland Courbis.
He said: “Rémy doesn’t have the stature to be a striker, but his short dribbling make him a superb false nine. The year when I put him in that position, his career changed. He’s had four caps for France.
“He had a bad injury who made him lower his level a bit, sadly. He’s a great kid, always smiling. He could have gone higher. After that season as a false nine, leaving Montpellier for Newcastle was a bad choice. He had a good career that could have been really good”.
During his short stint at St James Park, Cabella scored just one goal and assisted another two, a stark contrast from his 17 goals and 12 assists in 64 appearances for Saint-Etienne between 2017-19.
