Even if new signings Ki Sung-Yueng and Yoshinori Muto fail to make the grade at Newcastle United, their respective transfers will have been well-justified given the commercial benefits for the club.
As Newcastle's first-ever Asian players, the South Korean and Japanese stars will have brought huge new revenue markets to Newcastle.
South Korea and Japan are arguably two of the most fanatical countries in Asia when it comes to football, and is a region with a large number of potential fans with disposable income to spend.
In the modern game of football, rightly or wrongly, commercial success is almost as important to clubs as success on the pitch.