Georginio Wijnaldum has lifted the lid on his true feelings about his time at Newcastle United.
The Dutch midfielder returns to St James' Park on Saturday night in a Liverpool shirt as he looks to keep the Reds' title bid on track.
Wijnaldum left Tyneside in the aftermath of relegation and his decision to sign for the Anfield side angered some Newcastle fans.
But ahead of his return to the club, Wijnaldum said: "I have great memories.
"I enjoyed the club, I enjoyed the city, I enjoyed the people, I enjoyed my teammates.
"That’s also the reason that I felt free there and I could play the way I was playing and I scored goals.
"I only have good memories; the only bad thing is that we were relegated, but besides that I had a great time there and my family had a great time there.
"Once in a while, I go back to Newcastle because I love the city."
But Wijnaldum is not expecting any favours from the Magpies and knows Liverpool will be in for a tough game.
He told LFC TV: "They’ve done quite well this season, especially in the last few games.
"They’re winning games and I think when you analyse them, you can see they’re a really, really tough team to beat.
"Out of experience, I know how it is to play there and also to play against big teams who are coming to Newcastle to play.
"It’s quite tough to win there and it will be again for us.
"Last season when we played there, it was quite a hard game – it finished 1-1, but it was a really, really hard game."
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