The agent of Marseille midfielder Mathieu Valbuena feels the strong French influence at Newcastle in recent years is little more than a ‘fad’.
Newcastle have been strongly linked with a move for Valbuena’s club and international team-mate Loic Remy during the January transfer window, as a replacement for the departed Demba Ba.
The English Premier League outfit have already clinched the signing of France’s first-choice right-back Mathieu Debuchy this month.
Alan Pardew’s squad already boasts the presence of six Frenchmen – Debuchy, Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gabriel Obertan, Sylvain Marveaux and Romain Amalfitano.
But Valbuena’s agent Christophe Hutteau said his client would only consider a move to ‘one of the two Manchester clubs’.
“He wouldn’t go. You don’t leave Marseille to go and play for Newcastle,” Hutteau told French radio station RMC.
“It’s just a fad. There was Arsenal, today it’s Newcastle, tomorrow it’ll be Liverpool or Chelsea.”
Marseille sit third in Ligue 1, level on points with both Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain, in what promises to be a closely contested title race with only goal difference separating the three sides.
