The added six-year bonus Newcastle United have secured this summer and how it happened

Newcastle United player Isaac Hayden signed a new long-term contract last week to cap a remarkable turnaround in the space of 16 months

Isaac Hayden has signed a new long-term contract with Newcastle United because the Magpies are 'building something to move forward with' - and the midfielder has revealed his family 'love' life in the North East.

Following the signings of Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Jamal Lewis, Newcastle announced that Hayden has put pen to paper on a new six-year deal to cap a positive week for the club.

While Steve Bruce had been 'quietly confident' that Hayden would commit, as he entered the final year of his original contract, such a deal would have been unimaginable 16 months ago.

Keen to move down south to be closer to his wife, Lauren, and young daughter, Adriana, Hayden had been 'pretty sure' he had played his last game for the black-and-whites in May, 2019.

However, buoyed by Bruce's appointment, the signings the club have made and the support of his family, who have moved up north, the 25-year-old has now committed his long-term future to the Magpies.

"I'm very happy. It's something that's been bubbling away now for some time," Hayden told NUFC TV.

"I just thought that the club as a whole is a fantastic club. It's a family club. The staff, everyone at the football club, is very close-knit with the players and I thought that with the signings that we made this summer, especially, they were quality additions to the team and we're building something to move forward with.

"I wanted to be a part of that. The commitment shown by the football club to me is massive and myself to them also. This is just something that I think is the right thing to do for my career going forward."

Adriana was born six weeks premature in December, 2017 and required regular medical care when she left the Portland Hospital in London.

To put that situation into perspective, that month, Hayden embarked on three trips to and from the capital in one day ahead of the Magpies' game against Arsenal at the Emirates as he juggled work life and family life.

In Hayden's own words, it was the 'most difficult period' of his life but it says it all about how far Adriana has come that the family are now looking at schools in the North East.

"Things were a lot different for me 18 months ago, two years ago, in my personal life but even last year I was a lot more settled," Hayden added.

"My wife and daughter were with me for the whole of last year and loved it up here and love being settled in the area, so it's kind of been in the offing for a long time now.

"We've been settled as a family and as a unit, which is important, and off the field, it has been a lot more settled and also on the field.

"Last year, we made some good signings as well. Players that obviously had not played in the Premier League but were showing potential to do well and, overall, we had a decent season considering the upheaval that was there at the beginning of last season with the new manager coming in so late and signings arriving late and bits and pieces.

"I think, overall, last year was a good year but I think now, with the new signings we have got, we can kick on and hopefully have a better season than we did last year."