Cabaye: Debuchy would love to come to Newcastle

It looks as though Yohan Cabaye has been spreading the word about Newcastle United to his friends and colleagues within the game.

This comes as he admitted to The Journal today that he'd been talking with his friend and former Lille team-mate Mathieu Debuchy who, funnily enough, has been linked with a move to us in the last few weeks.

Debuchy can play at right-back or in midfield and has made 209 appearances for Lille since joining the club in 2003. He's also a regular international colleague of Cabaye and regularly gets called up to the France squad, although only usually as backup to the ageing Anthony Réveillère or Eric Abidal.

On Debuchy,Cabaye said: "I told my friend Mathieu Debuchy he should come here. He said he would love to come to England and Newcastle. He would like to come here!"

"Newcastle now has a big reputation in France. When we play, French TV now shows Newcastle games. They try to show every game and support them."

However Cabaye, much like us fans, is keen for the squad to be added to rather than lose a big player only to start building again.

"I managed to play in the Champions League with my home town Lille, but it is the same situation here," said Cabaye. "We need to build a big team - if each year someone else leaves the club it's going to be difficult. It is really, really important to keep the players to build a big team."

"I love playing in England, I'm thankful to Newcastle United for giving me the chance to play here. My family feel good here and I would like to stay here for a long time."

"My goal is to play in Europe again - either the Europa League or Champions League," Cabaye added. "Newcastle United is on a good way to get that, so I don't really want to change where I am if I can achieve that here. My other aim is to play in the European Championships with France, which I can do if I'm playing here."

What about Cabaye's goals for this season though? Well with seven games left it appears the he is another player who has his eyes set on the prize of European football at St James' Park.

"I would like to play in both Europa League and Champions League - Champions League will be more difficult, but there are seven games, you never know. I would just like to play in Europe," he concluded.

It's good to see that players from within the club are talking about us in a positive light, and that other players are interested in joining us. In a way that can be attributed to the fantastic season we've been having.

I'd actually like Debuchy at Newcastle providing he was available for a decent price, which seems harsh on Danny Simpson, but if he isn't going to sign a new deal then the chances are that he will be leaving in the summer anyway and will need replacing.

It's perhaps only natural that Cabaye is looking towards his mate also. At the end of the day, Cabaye and Debuchy spent seven years at Lille together so they are bound to have built up a close relationship over that time.

Maybe Cabaye's eye has already spied Simpson's replacement?