Matt Ritchie says he sometimes has to pinch himself as a reminder that he is playing for Newcastle.
The Scotland international joined the Magpies from Bournemouth last summer, stepping down from the Premier League to make the move.
He told Sky Sports that it was a "tough decision", but he is now looking forward to a bright future with Newcastle.
"No disrespect to Bournemouth because my time there was unbelievable and I loved every minute of it, but the size of the club was the main thing," he said. "Sometimes I have to pinch myself.
"But it's always something I believed I could do and I worked hard for it. Hopefully it will be a good era for the club and I can be a part of it."
Ahead of their trip to Wolves on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, Newcastle are top of the Sky Bet Championship.
But they have suffered setbacks in recent weeks, losing to League Two Oxford in the FA Cup and then drawing at home against QPR.
Following the draw with QPR there were reports that manager Rafa Benitez might quit in frustration at a lack of transfer activity in January, but that was quickly denied by the Spaniard.
"The manager has been given a lot of trust from the owner and the job is to get promoted," said Ritchie.
"Hopefully we can continue to do the job we are doing at the minute and I am sure in the summer the manager might ask for a bit of money to spend. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.
"We have a tough run-in but it's one we are really excited for because we know the end goal is a big prize."