STEVE McCLAREN has reassured supporters that Newcastle United remain a huge pull at home and abroad after arriving in the United States for a pre-season tour.

The Magpies, who trained in Milwaukee yesterday ahead of tonight’s friendly with Mexican side Club Atlas in Wisconsin, have a strong following across the Atlantic and are expected to be followed by a healthy number of supporters.

But McClaren was not talking about the club’s powerful fan base, the head coach suggested that Newcastle are still more than capable of landing top transfer targets to improve the team.

The arrival of £15m playmaker Georginio Wijnaldum from PSV Eindhoven, who had attracted interested from a host of Champions League clubs unwilling to match Newcastle’s offer, highlighted the point.

And Newcastle are still trying to persuade Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to head for Tyneside rather than Portuguese club Porto, although there is still work to be done to secure the deal.

Many fans feared the days of spending big had gone, but McClaren was always satisfied that Newcastle had both the financial clout and appeal to get exciting signings over the line.

The former England boss, who worked in Holland and Germany, said: “Newcastle, in Europe especially, is massive. Everybody knows the reputation and size of the club. Even to people in this country, Newcastle is massive.

“It's huge here and it's huge abroad. I've spoken to players, and they only want to come to Newcastle. There's a big appetite for that to happen, without a doubt. I see the plans, and the potential is huge.”

Wijnaldum will fly out to Sacramento to join the rest of the squad tomorrow, knowing that he will still be able to play in the two remaining games against the Sacramento Republic and Portland Timbers.

French forward Remy Cabella has stayed behind on Tyneside nursing a thigh problem and it has been claimed in France that Marseille have knocked back Newcastle’s offer of Cabella and £12m for Florian Thauvin.

But Newcastle are still in the market for Thauvin and are expected to go in with a fresh offer, while managing director Lee Charnley continues to work on a deal for Anderlecht striker Mitrovic too.

And McClaren feels that he is learning quickly about the men he has around him, having decided to do much of the coaching himself since pre-season training started at the beginning of the month.

He said: “The first two weeks we were trying to get people to buy in to what we are doing. Firstly I needed to buy the staff in to what we are doing and now the players.

“Those who buy in to it, great. Those who don’t will be flying out the window. That’s the process at the minute and we are trying to buy in better quality also. That’s what we do.”