Newcastle United made their first signing of the January transfer window as Algerian international centre midfielder Nabil Benteleb was unveiled at St. James' Park.

The 25 year-old former Spurs box-to-box midfielder who has 5 goals in 35 games for his country has all the attributes Toon boss Steve Bruce has been seeking in central midfield - leadership, composure on the ball, energy, athleticism, all round skills, defensive strength and potency of both creating and scoring in attack.

Benteleb - who played 46 times for Spurs in the Premier League in a three year spell between 2013-6 after qualifying as a homegrown player after joining them as a youth - will add a powerful presence to Newcastle's midfield and greatly increase competition in an engine room that includes Isaac Hayden, JonJo Shelvey & the Longstaffs brothers.

Steve Bruce outlined early in the January transfer window that he was only interested in signing top quality players who would make the Magpies team and squad stronger:

"I keep saying if I can improve the team, then we'll try to improve it. If I can't, then I've got to be patient to wait because if we don't, then we just go still through the same cycle and we don't improve as a team.
"You've seen the difference Saint-Maximin and Almiron have made in particular. That bit of quality is always what you need in the Premier League and rather than have masses, I would rather just have one or two."

and in Bentaleb he has found a player who ticks all the right boxes to lead the Magpies charge into 2020 and continue the good start he has made to life as NUFC boss:

The 25 year-old midfielder is keen to resuscitate his top-level career after a frustrating season so far on the sidelines in Germany as Bentaleb is yet to play for Schalke this season after injury and a dispute with the management of the Bundesliga club.

By all accounts, Newcastle have a potentially top player on their hands, an all-rounder with a commanding physical presence who can do it at both ends of the pitch and one whose comfort in possession can help Newcastle develop an attacking identity.

Goals-wise, he scored 8 goals in 34 goals last season for Schalke in all competitions including 3 in the Champions League putting 2 penalties past Man City at The Etihad and 19 in 97 games for the Bundesliga side since joining for £17M from Spurs in 2016.

He is the third Algerian to play for Newcastle after Mehdi Abeid and Islam Slimani and, ironically, his only goal in English football was scored against The Magpies in a 4-0 victory at White Hart Lane in the League Cup courtesy of a Jak Alnwick 'keeping error.

The cultured midfielder who played for his country at The World Cup in 2014 and at the African Nations Cups in 2015 and 2017 spoke of his eagerness to join an upwardly mobile Newcastle United and return to The Premier League under Steve Bruce:

"The project really interested me. I wanted absolutely to come back to the Premier League. The coach had some trust in me and the club also - I saw that straight away - and I think it's the perfect move for me."

and the Newcastle manager himself is delighted at the switch: (both via nufc.co.uk)

"He's played at the highest level now for the last four or five years but he will come in hungry and feeling he has something to prove and will give us the competition we obviously need.
"With the numbers that we've got at the minute, he's got a bit of experience and I think people will enjoy watching him play. He'll come into the squad and I'm sure he'll be a good acquisition for us.
"The fact that he's played in the Premier League before helps, because we know that he can play and knows what the demands of the Premier League are. He's gone from the Premier League to Schalke and played in the Champions League as well, so we're delighted to get him. It's a great signing."

Newcastle play Everton tonight in The Premier League at Goodison Park although Bentaleb is unable to make his first team Magpies bow until Saturday in the FA Cup against Oxford United, when the Magpies will be hoping to progress to the 5th round.

With the January transfer window still open, Newcastle will expect to be active again with deals for winger Valentino Lazaro and Jarrod Bowen still in the offing.