Jermaine Jenas has named a Newcastle United teammate who impressed him even more than Alan Shearer.
Before becoming a television host, Jermaine Jenas was a professional footballer who enjoyed a lengthy career.
Three years of which were spent at Newcastle United after he was signed for £5m from hometown club Nottingham Forest in 2002.
Jenas would make 152 appearances at St. James’ Park – scoring 12 goals and creating 16 – with his time coinciding with some big-name players like Toon icon Alan Shearer.
However, teammate Craig Bellamy actually cut a more impressive figure than the legendary Shearer at the time.
Jenas left more impressed with Bellamy than Shearer at Newcastle
Speaking on the Beast Mode podcast with Adebayo Akinfenwa, Jenas was asked about which players stood out to him when he was at Newcastle.
“I think the most impressive person I saw was Craig Bellamy at that particular time,” he replied.
“You know, Bells had just come off the back of winning young player of the year. Louder than loud, as you can imagine. You know, he walked into that dressing room every single day like he was the king.
“Shearer was at the back end of his career, but knew what he was and was the captain of the club and ran the city basically.”
Jenas has previously expressed his surprise with Bellamy, as the winger far exceeded his expectations when he was signed.
Jermaine Jenas says Newcastle had a player who was so good in training it was ‘unbelievable’
Bellamy wasn’t the only player who blew Jenas away during his time in the North East, before he was sold to Tottenham for £7m in 2005, though.
The former midfielder was also asked about who impressed him the most in training.
While Bellamy still got a shoutout, it was Laurent Robert who particularly stood out.
He said: “Bellamy, Dyer, Laurent Robert did some silly stuff in training that you just, you wouldn’t not as in like silly, but, unbelievable talent.
“Yeah. They were all at the peak of their powers at the time.”
Robert arrived in Newcastle in 2001, with the club paying a sizeable £10m to sign the winger from Paris Saint-Germain.
The French winger dazzled fans and made 181 appearances in just three years, contributing a massive 32 goals and 55 assists in that time.
However, Robert would run into trouble after repeatedly criticising manager Graeme Souness in public and eventually falling out with the club, leading to an initial departure on loan to Portsmouth.
That year-long switch was also cut short, and he joined Benfica permanently in January 2006.
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