Newcastle United have started to stage a revival after producing a couple of fine results in recent weeks.
Rafa Benitez has seen his side start to lift away from the bottom three of the Premier League table with back-to-back wins against impressive Watford and AFC Bournemouth sides who have been performing rather well this season.
However, it is not just the results and the performances that have begun to improve for the Magpies, as it appears the Spaniard has given one man a fresh breath of life in recent times.
Mohamed Diame has been a key man for the Toon Army this season, having started every game in the Premier League so far.
The former Senegal international had admitted that he had found things extremely difficult over the last year, revealing to the Newcastle Chronicle that he felt it had been the “poorest” he had ever played.
There were doubts that he would remain a Newcastle player as speculation grew in January that he could be on the move, whilst many had got frustrated with the performances that he had been displaying.
However, Benitez appears to have revived the 31-year-old’s career at St. James’ Park and has given him a fresh lease of life.
The manager had decided to utilise Diame (valued at £4.5 million by Transfermarkt) as a central midfielder instead of in a number 10 role, a position he had featured heavily in during their 2016/17 campaign in the Championship.
Following that change and the genius of Benitez, the African midfielder has become a key and integral member of the squad as Newcastle look to build a run of results once again.
Diame will need to continue to be an important member of the team if Newcastle are going to replicate the second half of last season’s Premier League campaign that saw the Magpies comfortably escape the threat of relegation.
Newcastle fans – thoughts?
