NEW Newcastle United captain Geremi has described being given the armband as "one of the greatest honours of his career" and admitted it would be a dream to lift a trophy as Magpies skipper.

Manager Sam Allardyce surprised many by handing the captaincy to Geremi, with most believing Joey Barton would take on the role.

But the £5.8m signing from Manchester City's fractured metatarsal forced the Newcastle manager into a re-think and, rather than make a temporary appointment, he asked the Cameroon international to take on the responsibility.

Despite being in the Real Madrid team that won the Champions League in 2000, captaining Cameroon in World Cup Finals and winning Premier League titles, the 28-year-old puts the honour alongside his greatest achievements in the game.

"The manager spoke to me on Thursday about the captaincy," said Geremi, whose fluency in English, French and Spanish make him the ideal communicator in Allardyce's League of Nations side.

"He took me to one side and asked whether I would like to take on the responsibility.

"He has seen in me something, maybe it's my experience, my time playing the Premier League, but it really is an honour. One of the greatest honours of my career.

"To be fair I was surprised to be asked. I didn't know the position was there. Sam Allardyce is a good manager but I didn't know he was assessing people for the captaincy."

The versatility offered by the midfielder who can also play in defence was a big attraction for many clubs in the summer.

But despite seven offers Geremi claimed once Newcastle had shown an interest there was only one team he wanted to play for.

"At the end of last season I decided to leave Chelsea and as soon as I realised Newcastle were interested it took no time to decide to come here.

"This club needs to achieve something because it's been so long without a trophy. When you come to the club you see that the fans are crying out for something. You don't need to play in England, in the Premier League too long before you know about Newcastle.

"Now the new board is in place and they want to achieve something. They want to get that message to the players so we have the same idea.

"To achieve that success we know we have to work together, to stick together to make it a success. If today I say "we're going to win the title" people will laugh at me.

"There are lot of games and there are a lot of trophies at stake in the game.We will grow step by step but of course it would be great to lift a trophy as Newcastle skipper. We know they have waited more than 50 years for an English trophy and that's what we want to do."