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Back in January my club Sparta Prague played in a mid-winter tournament in sunny Gran Canaria.

It was meant to tune us all up during the winter break, and we were one of three teams involved. Celtic and PSV Eindhoven were the others and I have to stay that even for a friendly, our game against the Eredivisie side stuck in my mind.

We felt we could cope with most teams last year and we took a quick lead but they beat us 5-2. It was a bit of a lesson, to be honest. We played in Europe but they were a fantastic team – probably the best we played all year.

It’s tough to distinguish too much between their best midfielders because they were a very dynamic team but two of them are playing in England next year. Memphis Depay is one and the other is Georginio Wijnaldum, the man Newcastle United have signed to try to inject a bit of excitement into their play next year.

I’m definitely excited that Newcastle have signed a player of his calibre. He’s a superb prospect and I would say this is probably the biggest signing Mike Ashley has made in his entire time at United – so it’s definitely the start of what the club has long been promising.

Of course, I don’t want to get too carried away. There’s more work to do and I’m glad to hear they are importing a striker too. I don’t know too much about Aleksandar Mitrovic but his record is a good one in front of goal. He’s certainly more the type of player that Newcastle need – and it’s good to see they’ve recognised some of the problems the club has suffered from in recent years.

I think they need to add six players this summer so even though Wijnaldum is an exciting player, they shouldn’t think that’s them done in the transfer market. I’d still like to see Newcastle go and sign Charlie Austin from QPR and maybe go and sign another defender for more than £10million as well. That would be four players – and in truth United need more than that.

One of my big complaints about Newcastle last year was the lack of quality beneath the first XI. I actually think the club has a decent team when everyone is fit but as soon as you get one or two injuries, the replacements are not at the same level.

As a goalkeeper coach, of course my interest is there and I’m glad to see Karl Darlow join the club. He’s a young player with something to prove and while I don’t think he’ll replace Tim Krul straight away, it will be good to have some pressure on their number one ‘keeper.

I have said for a while that not having pressure on positions is one of the problems at Newcastle. At Sparta I want three good goalkeepers, all challenging each other to become better and all giving each other a run for their money.

Still, we asked for Newcastle to invest and to bring in better players and finally they have delivered something. After so long wondering what was going to happen next, I’m delighted that we can actually be positive about something at the club for once.

Let’s hope it’s not the last time this summer that we’re welcoming a good new player and that by the time the new season rolls around, we’re all excited about it starting. This feels like a really good start for Toon.