Monday 10 August 2015 10:10, UK
Chancel Mbemba arrived at St James' Park dressed for dinner - and has been backed to turn on the style on the pitch at Newcastle.
The £8m signing from Anderlecht ditched the familiar tracksuit and oversized headphones in favour of old-school glamour as he turned up for his Premier League debut against Southampton.
Mbemba grinned for the cameras as he strolled along the touchline to the dressing room in full evening wear - including black bow tie.
But he turned in an impressive first performance in Sunday's opening-weekend 2-2 draw with Southampton, making several crucial interceptions.
Mbemba started just over a week after signing for Steve McClaren's side but goalkeeper Tim Krul has already backed him to be a hit on as well as off the turf.
"I've only known him for a week and been training with him even less than that, but he had a fantastic game," Krul said.
"We will build a relationship together. I've told him that. We will save each other at different points of the season but that's what a centre-back and a goalkeeper do.
"He's a player - he's definitely a player. You could see how good he is out there and he's only going to get better."
McClaren also paid tribute to Mbemba's fledging new partnership with captain Fabricio Coloccini, who recently signed a new deal.
"Mbemba's played 25 minutes last week, not trained with us, Colo the same, but it looked like they’d played together forever," the Newcastle boss said.
