Alan Pardew wanted to check him out rather than send him to Holland on the second-team tour.
He was signed from Racing Club Lens.
Mehdi Abeid: “There are some great players in this team and I must battle to get past them.
“I want to progress here and it is good for my education in football.
“I am very happy to be playing for Newcastle now. I hope I can do well for the club this season.
“And I am looking forward to the challenge of being a Newcastle player.
“I heard some good things about Newcastle from when I was in France. They are a big club on the way up. Every young player would like this opportunity and I feel very fortunate to have it.”
"Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba have helped me a lot already. It is good to have them around at the moment while I settle in.
“But all of the players have been supportive and I like the team, I want to be in it.
“It is a big challenge for me and I hope to play in a lot of games this season in the first team.
“But we will see. I will be working hard every day in training to get there.”