Newcastle United's latest signing Henri Saivet says the presence of a large French-speaking contingent on Tyneside was one of the reasons he chose to move there.
Savit, 25, put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half-year contract on Monday after Newcastle agreed to pay Bordeaux a reported £5 million fee for the midfielder.
Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford were all reported to be interested in the Senegal international too.
But Saivet said he was ready for an "exceptional challenge" at Newcastle, where he will link up with former Ligue 1 players such as Moussa Sissoko and Florian Thauvin as well as ex-Bordeaux midfielders Yoan Gouffran and Gabriel Obertan.
"To tell the truth, I asked myself at which club I could adapt the easiest and the fastest," he told L'Equipe.
"Newcastle are in a state of emergency -- I know that. But given their squad and the number of ex-Ligue 1 players, the answer jumped out at me."
Having watched several Newcastle matches upon hearing of their interest, Saivet is convinced his new club's "cycle of bad luck" in the Premier League will soon end so that they can climb out of the relegation zone.
Originally an attacking winger, Saivet has recently been converted into a more defensive central midfielder.
He was surprised that Magpies boss Steve McClaren had such an in-depth knowledge of his role, adding: "I didn't think that he would know me as well -- that he would be able to talk to me about my game in such detail.
"He's already shown me some video clips that he liked and that he thinks were important for the Premier League."