Newcastle United’s fortunes completely changed in October 2021 when the massive takeover was finally completed and the mighty consortium of the PCP Capital Partners, the Reuben Brothers, and the Saudi Public Investment Fund became the new club owners. The Magpies thus suddenly became the richest club in the Premier League by a mile. The other 19 clubs in the league immediately called up a meeting to discuss the potential consequences of such a takeover. Everyone suddenly started to look at Newcastle in a completely different way.
The main question is whether we will see the rich Arabian owners pumping more and more money in the upcoming years. Will Newcastle become the next Manchester City or PSG? While we don’t have the answers to these questions at the moment, we can by all means discuss what has happened to the team in the first couple of years under the new management. To help with this task we have met with football betting expert John Pentin, who is heading the content team at popular UK betting tips site bettingtips4you.com.
Where are Newcastle United at this very moment and can we see them playing a more important role in both English and European football in the near future? Stay tuned as we are looking to provide an elaboration on our thoughts on this matter.
The 2022 transfers
Up to this date, Newcastle United have not signed a genuine superstar. While we found it pretty surprising considering the power and the funds they have at their disposal, we must ask a genuine question – Do they even need a superstar? We’ll get back to this further down in the article, but for now, let’s stay at transfers and see what the Magpies have done last year.
It all started with the acquisition of Chris Wood in January 2022. Newcastle signed him from Burnley in a €30 million deal, namely aiming to make their relegation rivals weaker in the battle for avoiding the drop to Championship football ahead of the second part of the season. While Wood by no means justified the price tag, Newcastle’s mission succeeded as they stayed in the top flight while Clarets dropped into the second division.
The next moves came in late January, just before the end of the winter transfer window. The Magpies closed three huge deals, signing Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett (on loan at that moment), and Dan Burn. As you know, all three players are regular starters this season. Moving forward, Newcastle decided to keep Targett and make a permanent move in June, bringing him for a €17.5 million fee from Aston Villa. They then made two more massive deals for defense by signing Nick Pole from Burnley and Sven Botman from Lille, both in June.
Finally, the team broke a record by completing a late August move for Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad. Isak arrived at St. James’ Park for a whopping €72 million fee. Ironically, the highest-paid player has done the least to justify his price as each of the aforementioned likes have left a much bigger impact on the team’s performances in the 2022/23 campaign.
A magnificent run in the 2022/23 campaign
The aforementioned transfers have resulted in immediate success for the new owners as Newcastle have transformed into a genuine top-four contender in no time. This only shows the magnificent work done by the coaching staff and football experts within the club. They have carefully chosen the acquisitions, finding the right place in the starting XI for every player mentioned in the paragraph above. Of course, none of this would have happened without the magnificent head coach Eddie Howe. The former Bournemouth boss has put all the pieces of the puzzle phenomenally.
As a result, Newcastle are sky-high third midway through the 2022/23 Premier League season. It is a climb not even the club’s biggest enthusiasts could have anticipated, especially with the current roster. Eddie Howe’s men are particularly shining in defense. Newcastle boast the league’s best defensive record at the halfway point of the campaign. They have allowed only 11 goals in the inaugural 18 rounds of the Premier League season. Now, if you go back to the previous paragraph of this article, you will see that all of the current defenders in the team’s starting lineup have been signed within the last two years (since the takeover).
Key players
The brilliant job by the scouts and the club experts can best be recognized by a simple look at the team’s roster. Although the Magpies do not have a superstar in their ranks, they have a high-profile player on every single piece of the football pitch. Nick Pope is one of the best goalkeepers in England, Kieran Trippier is one of the best right-backs in the world, Bruno Guimaraes has emerged as a genuine leader at the center of the park, while Callum Wilson is a prolific goalscorer who has even earned his place in England’s World Cup squad in Qatar 2022.
When you add the likes of Miguel Almiron who is finally revealing his full potential, Allan Saint-Maximin, Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy, Joe Willock, Sven Botman, Dan Burn, and Fabian Schar, you get a phenomenal group of players who are capable of big things.
The Champions League anthem at St. James’ Park?
Does this team have limits? It probably does in terms of challenging the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal in a potential battle for the title. However, this Newcastle outfit certainly have what it takes to secure a top-four finish and earn a place in the UEFA Champions League. Once they get there, the owners will have an easier job to attract the biggest superstars (most of whom strictly want to play in the elite continental competition) and we could then even talk about the Premier League title quest.
As long as the core of the current team stays fit, Newcastle can definitely hold on in the battle for the top-four finish. From there on, only the sky is the limit as we will certainly see the team progressing more in the years to come. At the end of the day, they needed only a year to become a top-four side. It can’t take any longer for the Magpies to attack the precious domestic silverware.