Jonas Gutierrez has admitted he felt hurt by Newcastle's treatment following his cancer diagnosis.
The Argentine was told to find a new club earlier this summer and question marks were raised when he failed to return to pre-season training.
He has since decided to break the news himself of his fight against the illness and the Newcastle players paid tribute in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Hull.
When asked about his situation at Newcastle, he told the Chronicle : ”I don’t want to say if they were good or bad, I can’t judge.
“What I can say is that it hurt me very much when they told me to look for another team after that I had the surgery.
“I had been at the club for five years – that was tough.”
Gutierrez has also spoken of his relief at going public on his fight with cancer.
He said: “Everyone on the streets was asking me why I didn’t have hair anymore as I always had long hair.
In pictures: Mirror readers send messages of support to Gutierrez
“That put me in a difficult situation, not because I didn’t want to tell but because I didn’t want to tell my story to everyone one after the other.
“Since the moment I decided to make it public, I feel much better. I am free and calmer.”
The winger also told fans from Newcastle that their support has gave him strength.
He said: “I am very happy for what the Newcastle fans did, and thankful to the supporters of Velez Sarsfield and Almagro.
“I am also thankful to all the people linked to football because I have received very nice messages from them. All this gives me more strength not to give up."
