Lomana LuaLua was so in awe of Alan Shearer he couldn't stop staring at him when he first signed for Newcastle United.
The pair played together on numerous occasions under Sir Bobby Robson's Newcastle side that challenged for the Premier League title and played in the Champions League in the early noughties.
But Robson plucked LuaLua from relative obscurity when, on the recommendation of assistant manager Mick Wadsworth, he signed him from Colchester United in 2000.
It took LuaLua a while to 'believe' he belonged at Premier League level but revealed how Shearer would boost his confidence on the training ground.
"It took me a while to believe I deserved to play in the Premier League," LuaLua told TalkSPORT.
"I remember being in the canteen and after training I couldn't eat. All I was doing was just staring at Shearer.
"Actually it was him, one day at training I was doing skills and he turned around and said: 'Oh my God, this boy is a magician'.
"That was when I realised I deserved to be rubbing shoulders with these people. A year-and-a-half I was at Colchester and then boom, I was at Newcastle in the Premier League. Unbelievable.
"A boy that had never been taught football and I was sitting next to Alan Shearer, Gary Speed, Rob Lee, Warren Barton.
"It is only when you get a legend like Shearer saying I was a magician where you are like 'Wow! These people are saying my name'.
"He always had time for youngsters."
LuaLua remains a cult hero on Tyneside for his backflip celebrations after scoring a goal.
However, he has revealed he almost joined Tottenham before making the long journey to the North East from Essex.
"I wasn't even going to Newcastle. I was going to Tottenham," he added.
"I was actually on my way to sign for Tottenham because Tottenham is the team I support. I was excited because I was going to Tottenham and suddenly Mick Wadsworth rang me and said 'you are coming to Newcastle now'.
"Knowing that by mentioning Sir Bobby, because he had trained Ronaldo, I would be really excited.
"It just felt like roads kept on going and would never stop because that was my first time going up north. I was like: 'Where are we going, man? Are we going to Africa or something?'"
