Algeria Under-23 international Mehdi Abeid, having broken into the Newcastle United first team, says he thinks he’s established himself in the Premier League.
Abeid made only his second league start for Newcastle in their 2-0 win at West Brom on Sunday and has broken into the first team after spending last season on loan at Panathinaikos
“A lot has changed, I’ve been out on loan a lot and I have come back here to have some time to play and show the manager and the club I can play for them. I am really happy,” said Abeid, who also went on loan to St Johnstone in 2013.
“I knew I had to play football and that’s what I went and did, to play football and enjoy my time. I got a lot of experience, I learned a lot and I came back with a strong mentality and a strong character.”
Newcastle have risen to eighth in the Premier League table after four successive wins, along with beating Manchester City in the League Cup.
It has lifted the pressure off manager Alan Pardew and Algeria’s Abeid insisted they always believed their season would turn, despite failing to win any of their opening seven league games.
“We’ve always been working to have some success,” said the 22-year-old. “We have to keep showing we’re a good team and we can do our best every game. Sunday was a great win for the team.
“Now it’s a good time to have some fresh air, to play with the national teams and we will come back better and fresh for the next couple of games.”.
Abeid also believes in-form Newcastle teammate Ayoze Perez can be one of the buys of the season.
The midfielder thinks the striker can take the Premier League by storm now he has settled at Newcastle.
Perez has three goals in his last three games after his stunning strike at The Hawthorns.
He flicked Daryl Janmaat’s cross in with his heel from 12 yards to inspire Newcastle to a fifth straight win in all competitions.
The club bought the Spaniard for a reported fee of around £1.5 million (Dh8.7m) from Tenerife in the summer and Abeid insisted Perez is a bargain.
He said: “If he continues like this he can be a big player for us.
“He needs to score, he is very technical – a very good player – and we know he can do big things for us.
“We always knew he is a very, very good player, we are really happy for him and I hope he will score a lot more for us.
“The goal was really technical and we can see in training he has some great skills and he showed it on Sunday.”
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