Allan Saint-Maximin says that he spoke to former St James' Park favourite Hatem Ben Arfa before deciding to move to Newcastle United.
The Frenchman is hoping to be a hit with the Magpies but is under no illusions after Ligue 1 signings such as Remy Cabella and Florian Thauvin left Tyneside without making a positive impact.
After getting his feet under the table following a
, Saint-Maximin told the Chronicle: "Hatem spoke to me. He said to me ‘it’s amazing - the supporters and atmosphere are amazing’.
"For his dribbling, I love Hatem so much.
"I love a lot of players, but, for me, it’s Ben Arfa.
"He told me to come and said to me a lot of good things. He scored a lot of good goals.
"He had an injury one time, and maybe this was a bit difficult for him, but everybody knows he’s a great player.
"You need to work. I know what the supporters want.
"They want me to run and it’s what I want to do. I want to run, I want to fight.
"I just want to run and show what I can do. You need to work hard here.
"I know what the supporters want and they want me to run."
Saint-Maximin also revealed he spoke with Cabella and Thauvin too, to get a full appreciation of how to approach things at Newcastle.
He added: "I know them all - I know every player.
"I talked with a lot of players (about NUFC).
"They said to me it’s a great club, a great city and the supporters are great.
"Everything is great. This is why I came. I said ‘I know I want to be there’."
The former French Under-21 international's final piece of advice came from a surprising source - his old boss Patrick Vieira, who turned down the chance to manage the club last summer.
Saint-Maximin said: "I talked with Patrick, the trainer of Nice.
"He said to me he played his second professional game away against Newcastle.
"Some players in Arsenal said to me ‘it’s a great stadium with a lot of people’.
"You know when you go to some stadiums and you see everybody turning out and it’s a good team and a good stadium.”
"Patrick talked to me about the supporters and the stadium.
"He said to me that it’s a really, really good club for me.
"It’s what I want to do this season."
The 22-year-old was then asked if he wanted to be a hero at Newcastle, but fans will be impressed with his answer.
Saint-Maximin responded: "Yes, of course.
"I want to do everything.
"If I can be a hero it’s good, but if I can be the best fighter, it’s better."
Toon boss Steve Bruce is looking to give Saint-Maximin his debut against Arsenal this weekend, the Geordie said: "I'm sure he will drive me crazy at times, I am sure of that, but you can't deny that his electrifying pace.
"Nowadays in the Premier League, I think you need it.
"We needed to improve on that significantly in terms of pace and power.
"That is vitally important when you play in the big league."
