NEWCASTLE UNITED didn’t have much to shout to about in the transfer market this summer, but when they swooped to land Ki Sung-yueng on a free transfer from Swansea City at the start of July, their uncharacteristic decisiveness was lauded as a rare good move.

Having agreed to sell Mikel Merino to Real Sociedad for £10.7m, Newcastle were getting a more experienced replacement for nothing.

A seasoned international with more than 100 caps to his name, and a proven performer in the Premier League thanks to his time at Swansea and Sunderland, Ki was still on the right side of 30. Mo Diame had performed impressively alongside Jonjo Shelvey at the heart of Newcastle’s midfield in the previous campaign, but it was widely anticipated that Ki would slot in and make a starting spot his own.

Somewhat surprisingly, things have not proved that simple. Ki started the early-season games against Chelsea and Manchester City, but was nowhere to be seen for the next six weeks as he became Newcastle’s forgotten man.

There was more than one occasion when Rafael Benitez did not even select him in his match-day squad, and Ki admits there were times when he began to question whether his manager would give him another chance.

Those questions were answered when he came off the substitutes’ bench in the goalless draw at Southampton, and from that point on, the midfielder’s Newcastle career has really taken off.

Having impressed as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 win over Watford, Ki caught the eye again in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth, with his metronomic passing and astute off-the-ball running proving a major factor in his side’s success.

Shelvey should have recovered from his calf problem by the time Newcastle return to action at the end of the international break, but on the evidence of the last two games, it cannot be assumed that he will automatically reclaim a place in the starting XI at Burnley. Ki has done all that has been asked of him, and it would be an extremely harsh call if Benitez was to take him out of the side.

“If I say it wasn’t hard in the first few months, it would be a lie,” said the South Korean. “I waited for my chance at this club because this is an amazing club, and if we show our quality with our squad, we can stay in this league.

“It was a difficult time for two-and-a-half months, but I have settled down now and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.

“I am playing better, although I still think there is more from me to come. Hopefully more and more – I can score more and help the team more - but first of all I want to concentrate on my performance every single game because we have good players in my position. I want to keep my place. Sometimes, you can get injuries and suspensions, so I just want to keep going forward.”

Having been raised in Australia, Ki cut his teeth with South Korean side FC Seoul before getting his big break with Celtic in 2009. He won a league title and a Scottish Cup at Parkhead before making a £6m switch to Swansea.

He is determined to succeed on Tyneside, and has hinted he could call time on his international career to further his prospects in a black-and-white shirt. He has been excluded from the South Korea squad for a couple of friendlies in Australia this week, and is yet to make a decision over whether to make himself available for January’s Asian Cup.

“I am not going away this time,” he said. “Although I am not sure if the break will helps us.

“It can help to keep going when you are starting to win, but maybe it helps us too to take days off and think about what we have done well and how we can improve.”