Remy Cabella leaving Montpellier to join Newcastle United was a 'bad choice'.
That is the verdict of the French winger's former manager at Montpellier, Rolland Courbis.
Cabella had won the Ligue 1 title with Montpellier and had been capped four times by the French national team when he joined Newcastle in the summer of 2014.
He arrived on Tyneside amid much fanfare and many onlookers felt as if the Magpies had picked up a coup by securing his signature.
But he struggled to adapt to English football and after a disappointing season playing on the wing for United, Cabella returned to France to join Marseille on a loan deal that would later be turned permanent.
The 30-year-old has since taken in a spell at St Etienne and now plies his trade for Russian side FC Krasnodar.
Ahead of the Russian side's Champions League clash against Stade Rennais on Wednesday evening, Courbis was asked about his former star player in the French media.
And the 67-year-old laid out the regrets he holds over the Frenchman's career - particularly the decision to swap the South of France for the North East of England six years ago.
“Rémy doesn’t have the stature to be a striker, but his short dribbling make him a superb false nine," Courbis told Ouest-France (via Sport Witness).
"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."
