“I look at Newcastle United now and the balance is always up and down. Sometimes they can be very bad then they get some good wins, before the slip down again. They finished the season well though. I look out for there results all the time now. I hope that next season they can come back to the top end of the table under Rafa Benitez. Maybe they can finish in the Europa League places? Or in the future the Champions League? I’d love to see that again I really would.
“All the clubs in England are strong. It’s a strong group of teams and it’s easy for the top six to take the best players each summer. After that, you have teams that produce their own players. I’m at Montpellier now and you have to produce young players and get them into the first team. It can make things easier.
“In my four years in Newcastle the best memories are of the fans. Whether it was home or away they used to turn up in great numbers like an army. They came and they came to support us - the players. It was an incredible feeling. My best memory was when we took them into the Champions League. We went everywhere Holland, Italy, Spain, and Ukraine. Oh my God, they just took over the places we played at and it was a very good experience. Feyenoord was incredible because we took so many fans and we won the game 3-2 to get into the next round. I will never forget.
“I’d just like to say, now the dust has settled on my playing career, thank you to the supporters of Newcastle United. My four years in Newcastle were fantastic. I can’t thank the people in the city enough.”