Davide Santon has hailed the early season form of Newcastle United teammate Hatem Ben Arfa.

Santon admits he has become a talisman for a United team who see him as their potential game-changer.

He told The Journal: "For us Ben Arfa is so important.

"He has really, really good quality with the ball and he is fantastic. There is nothing he can't do with the ball so of course he is important.

"Nothing he does surprises us. He has that quality. I'm not surprised if another team wants to sign him because he has fantastic quality."