Joselu was instantly sold on Newcastle move

NEWCASTLE new boy Joselu is confident he can kick-start his Premier League career on Tyneside after receiving an offer he could not refuse from Rafael Benitez.

The 27-year-old Spaniard completed a £5million switch to St James’ Park on Wednesday, in the process ending a difficult two-year stay at Stoke which saw him spend the second 12 months onloan at Deportivo la Coruna.

He scored only four goals in 27 appearances for the Potteries club but has faith in his ability to do significantly better in a black and white shirt.

Joselu said: “I am here because I want to play in the Premier League. For me, it’s the best league in the world. I want to play, enjoy and score a lot of goals at St James’ Park in a Newcastle shirt.

“For me, it’s a pleasure to be again in the Premier League. Newcastle is a big club and its an honour for me to play at this club in this amazing city.

“It’s not about why I moved from Stoke to here. When Rafa called me, I didn’t have to think about it, and now I am here and I want to enjoy it.

“Newcastle have a very good team and very good players as well. We will try to do our best home and away. We will try to win all the games to stay again in the Premier League.”

Joselu trained with his new team-mates in front of around 5,000 fans at St James’ Park yesterday as the club staged an open day.

The event came four days after the Magpies opened their first season back in the Premier League with an eventful 2-0 home defeat by Tottenham which saw defenders Florian Lejeune and Paul Dummett limp off before the break and Jonjo Shelvey sent off shortly after it.

Ray McKinnon