The thing is, and I know it's been a while, but Newcastle are still a well known name in Europe.
Our treatment of Ben Arfa has got some very good press over in France, with that coupled with the added bonus of having Tiote, native french speaker, who could put in a good word with Gervinho, good stadium, good fans, it's not impossible for players to forfeit the relativly pish standards of French football to come to a team who may challenge the top ten in England next season.
People forget the draw of even featuring in the premier league has to players in comparison to Ligue 1.