TheCable

Former Super Eagles striker, Shola Ameobi, is excited to be back in the Barclays Premier League after joining Crystal Palace on a short-term deal until the end of the season.

Ameobi departed England in May 2014 to join Turkish side Gaziantep but left them in December.

The 34-year-old forward is now reunited with his boss in Newcastle United, Alan Pardew.

“I’m very excited to be here. I wanted to get back in the Premier League and having worked with the manager before, it’s been great to come back and hopefully help us avoid the relegation battle,” Ameobi told the club’s website.

“I had a couple of other clubs interested but I think my relationship with Alan and how much I enjoyed working with him was one of the big factors in my decision.

“He instills confidence in players and he always seems to get the best out of them; certainly he did that at Newcastle and hopefully he can do that for me and the rest of the lads here.”

Ameobi scored 79 goals in 397 appearances for Newcastle.