Newcastle United news: Didi Hamann backs "terrific" £52m signing to become fan favourite at St James' Park

As Eddie Howe stepped down as manager of Newcastle and the club bid farewell to Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, and Bruno Guimaraes there was a lot of pessimism around St. James’ Park.

Yet, the appointment of Matthias Jaissle has brought a fresh injection to the squad and club, and two incredible performances from their opening two matches to give them four points have removed the pessimistic cloud around Newcastle.

As the transfer window shut on Tuesday evening, the Magpies now know what they have at their disposal, as they brought in eight senior players, with Matias Fernandez-Pardo their last signing of the summer as he joined on Deadline Day.

While the attacker joined for a significant fee from Lille, £51m, their most expensive signing of the transfer window, and while there is much excitement about his addition, former Newcastle midfielder Didi Hamann believes another summer recruit will be a ‘fan favourite’.

Didi Hamann believes Nico Gonzalez will be a ‘fan favourite’ at Newcastle

Hamann spent one season at St James’ Park, joining from Bayern Munich in the summer of 1998, playing in the FA Cup final in 1999 with the Magpies; however, he would opt to join Liverpool at the end of that campaign.

The former German international still speaks fondly of Newcastle and understands what it would take for an individual to succeed at St. James’ Park, and he believes former Manchester City star Nico Gonzalez has all the qualities to do exactly that.

Hamann spoke exclusively to Sports Mole, through ToonieBet, speaking about his view on the midfielder.

The World Cup runner-up said: “I think he's a terrific player. And I think they needed a player of that calibre.

“And I think they've got a fantastic manager, very highly rated, very successful in Saudi Arabia, coming back to the Premier League now. Obviously, they lost an awful lot of talent in Newcastle, but at the same time, they brought a couple of players in. And I think he's a guy who gets the best out of players.

“And this is why I think Nico Gonzalez is a player. We know how enthusiastic people in the Northeast are. I think it won't be long before he's a fan's favourite.”

Nico Gonzalez’s career prior to Newcastle United

The Spanish midfielder was a young, exciting prospect as he joined Barcelona at underage in 2013 from Montaneros, a club in his home city of A Coruna in Galicia.

Gonzalez made his debut for Barcelona in August 2021, as he replaced Sergio Busquets in a match against Real Sociedad.

It had been hoped that he would be a future star at the Catalan club, as he made 37 appearances in that debut season at the club, before being loaned to Valencia to continue his development.

However, in the summer of 2023, he would make the move to Portugal to join Porto for a fee of €8.5m (£7.3m), with Barcelona having a buy-back clause.

The Spanish club would never get the chance to activate this clause after he impressed across two seasons with Porto, as he would make the move to Manchester City in February 2025 for a fee of £50m.

Gonzalez made a bright start to his career at City, as he impressed across the second half of the 2024-25 season, but while he would make 41 appearances across the next campaign, he would struggle to excite fans or pundits alike.

Yet, this move to Newcastle gives him a fresh start, with former Premier League midfielder Hamann believing he has all the qualities to succeed at the Magpies and become a fan favourite.