Steve Bruce insists that Newcastle United have a "very good" player on their hands in Nabil Bentaleb.
The Algerian star has arrived from Schalke 04 until the end of the season and could join the club for as little as £9million in the summer.
Bruce is delighted with the arrival of the 6ft 2in midfielder.
Bruce said: "With the problems we’ve got, to keep it under wraps for a couple of weeks.
"He’s somebody that we identified. He’s a very good player.
"He’s played at the highest level for Spurs."
Bruce is now hoping to get Bentaleb back to the levels he reached in Germany and with Spurs.
Bruce added: "I was particularly impressed with him as a young player when he burst into the scene, and gets a big-money move to Schalke, where he’s probably played 90 times at the top end of the Bundesliga.
"He’s a good acquisition, a good player."
