Star explains why he swapped Premier League football for Newcastle

Speaking to the Chronicle, Mohamed Diame has revealed why he spurned the opportunity to play in the Premier League with Hull City to sign for Newcastle United this summer.

Newcastle United signed a host of players this summer and one of the most high profile arrivals to St. James’ Park was of Mohamed Diame.

Diame was signed from Hull City by Newcastle for a fee of around £4.5 million and the Senegalese international has already started proving his worth so far this season.

While there is no doubting the fact that Newcastle have managed to sign a quality player in Diame, many were surprised as to why the midfielder decided to turn down the opportunity to play Premier League football with Hull to move to St. James’ Park instead.

Now Diame has gone on to explain the logic behind his decision by stating that Newcastle were the club where he wanted to be and added that he simply had to say yes to Rafael Benitez.

The 29-year-old told the Chronicle, “To be honest, everyone close to me knows I was desperate to play in the Premier League. To achieve this with Hull was a massive thing for me.

“But when Rafa Benitez called me, I had to think about it. This is what I did. I had to think about where I want to be in two or three years.

“I took this decision, and I think I made the right choice. Newcastle is a massive club and a massive city, and with this big manager we need to do well this season and get back to the Premier League.”