The midfielder signed a new six-year contract with the St James’ Park club last month to pledge his future to Newcastle for the long term.
But last year his future at Newcastle was under the scanner as he entered the final two years of his previous contract and several clubs were interested in snaring him away from the Magpies.
Hayden admitted that being English, Newcastle were always going to ask for big money for him, but he revealed that the figures the Magpies were quoting for him would have put him in the same bracket as players with Champions League and international experience.
The midfielder also claimed that he was also not keen to sign the terms Newcastle were offering him at the time as they were undervaluing him and did not reflect the kind of money they were demanding from his suitors.
Hayden told The Athletic: “There were two or three other clubs interested and the money they were being asked for felt very inflated.
“I’m English, I was 24, I had experience in the Premier League and so there is going to be a premium, but Newcastle put me in a price bracket with Champions League players, national team players for Germany and Spain. That put teams off.
“On the other hand, the terms I was being offered didn’t match that.
“After everything we’d been through as a family, I didn’t want to undervalue myself. And I didn’t want to undervalue my own career, either.
“You only get one as a player.
“You don’t want to sign somewhere if you don’t see things going in the right direction and that summer was very, very difficult.”
The midfielder has been at Newcastle since he joined the club from Arsenal in 2016 and came off the bench on Sunday’s 2-1 win over Everton.
