After the takeover, we had hit after hit after hit in the transfer market when it came to Newcastle United signings.
Nearly every first team player we signed excelled. Many of them have moved on for nearly double the money we signed them for, which is a relative success in itself.
Even the trading of Anderson and Minteh to get us out of a PSR hole, seemed canny at the time.
In hindsight, with Anderson going for £116m this summer, that deal feels ridiculous. But you have to remember, we got around £70m for two players who had cost a tenth of that combined and hadn’t scored a goal for us between them. Anderson may never have developed the way he did had he remained either.
The real travesty in that deal was not negotiating a buyback or sell on clause. Well, that and the fact we had to buy a keeper we’d never use for £20m as part of the transaction. We got royally done there but luckily the fella that shafted us now works for us.
The first active transfer window that was deemed a failure was last summer.
Five first team players brought in and I’d rank these Newcastle United signings as follows:
Thiaw B+
Adapted quickly and stepped into the hole left by Schar’s injury. Was one of our most reliable players but seemed exhausted towards the end of the season and made a few errors.
Ramsey C
Took a bit of time to get into his stride and gain opportunities. Can fill a few roles in midfield and by the end of the season was showing his promise.
Woltemade C
Started brilliantly and looked like he was going to be a tremendous acquisition. A fall in form and then a loss of starting place and a few experiments in different positions. Didn’t get anywhere near that early season best but still showed he has qualities and potential.
Elanga D –
So disappointing. Recruited as a 23 year old who had just had a brilliant season with an overperforming Forest, contributing 6 goals and 11 assists in the league. He should have been an upgrade on Murphy but showed nothing beyond blistering pace. Simple passes eluded him, he appeared incapable of beating a man and there was no danger of him replicating his goal contributions of the previous season. Just the solitary assist in the league. Even his finest moment, a brace against Barcelona, won’t be remembered fondly considering the opposition put 7 past us that day.
Wissa F
After the way Isak pushed for his transfer, it was bizarre that we part replaced him with someone that had done similar. I appreciate there were differences, but any type of strike is unacceptable from a contracted player, in my opinion, and paying more than double what we initially offered should have never been considered. Desperation set in and we snapped up a player with age against him but had scored 19 goals without taking a single penalty in the previous campaign. As we know, an injury on international duty stopped him kicking a ball for us for a few months. When he first came back, I thought he looked sharp. He scored on his full debut in the Carabao Cup and then his full Premier League debut too. His third goal came just over a month after his first and was again on a full debut. His Champions League one this time. But that was the last of his goals. His performances became sluggish. He missed big opportunities and found himself regularly out of the first team along with the other expensive striker signing.
Time will tell how the new recruits do this season. We will need to be patient will every one of them. They’re all young, none of them have played in this league and most of them have had little more than one season of regular football. We’ve paid big fees for them all, considering these factors. But the expectation shouldn’t match the fee. Not for the next season at least.
However, we do have a group of more experienced players who, let’s face it, will be like new Newcastle United signings. It’s a phrase we’ve mocked down the years but I don’t think it’s ever been more apt.
Other than Thiaw, none of our 2025 summer buys showed a sustained period of their best football. I think all of them are capable of more and I believe we’ll see it this year. Ramsey needs to evolve from the new boy fighting for a place in midfield to one of the main players in the middle.
With Jaissle allegedly favouring 4312 and 4231 formations, Woltemade could well find himself incorporated as a number 10 or a forward supported by a quick striking partner. Both these roles will hopefully suit his attributes.
As for the other two. Two players who are currently in the mix as pound for pound worst signings in our history. I am confident that both will excel this season. I have particular faith in Wissa. I think playing alongside another striker, be it Woltemade playing slick through balls, or Osula stretching the defence and causing carnage, I can see him grabbing goals this season. My prediction is he hits double figures. Something not a single player managed in the league for us last year.
Elanga feels like he needs confidence and plenty of coaching but there is a player in him.
From what I saw of these two at the World Cup, there is quality there. Wissa got as many goals in four games for his country than he has in his Newcastle career to date (although he did bail out England by missing a big chance).
Elanga didn’t start either of Sweden’s first two games but came off the bench to score in the second and started the next two adding another goal to his World Cup tally. Both his goals were tremendous efforts, far beyond anything we’ve seen from him in black and white.
We paid around £55m for each of these two present flops. We’ve only paid £20m less for 20 year old Bamba who has precisely 18 league appearances to his name.
Imagine if Wissa and Elanga were relative unknowns who had followed the same career path as they had up to signing for us but in a different European league. Let’s say Elanga had spent the last five seasons playing in Germany, notching up 123 appearances and scoring 14 goals and providing 23 assists, 11 of these goals and 20 of the assists in the last two seasons which were considered his proper breakthrough campaigns.
Let’s imagine Wissa had remained in France (where Brentford procured him in our universe). Across 240 appearances he had 110 goals, with over a quarter of these coming in the most recent two seasons alone.
If, having seen both of these players excel at the World Cup and considering those previous stats, we’d paid the same figures for the two this summer would we be thinking we’d grossly overpaid? Or would we be believing them to be two excellent and exciting signings? Especially Elanga considering his youth.
It may be a season later than any of us would have liked, but I think the pair will come into their own this campaign.
So, whilst this window has been focused on youth, and we’ve seen a lot of established first teamers leave. I think there is talent and experience amongst our ‘like new signings’ that will shine through and replace at least some of what we’ve lost.
You can follow the author on Twitter @billymerlin