Newcastle United have shaped into an excellently run club, and though there’s been some frustration around the rather uninspiring summer transfer window, it’s a world away from the one-time pit the Magpies were bogged in, under the iron fist of Mike Ashley.
Eddie Howe has led the Toon to a Champions League campaign and a domestic cup final, having improved St. James’ Park with players such as Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman.
Heightened expectations accentuate issues that seek to pull the side away from prominence, and the PSR issues that seeped across from exceeded spending over a three-year limit led to some damaging departures.
Newcastle sold some top talents this summer
Newcastle did not welcome any high-priced additions this summer, notably failing to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace despite offering a fourth bid worth £65m for the England international.
The Tynesiders did, however, manage to keep a hold of Gordon, Guimaraes and Isak, all of whom were courted by elite-level outfits. Why? Because some younger, more marginal talent was trimmed.
Yankuba Minteh was sold to Brighton & Hove Albion for a fee of £30m in July, turning a healthy profit but failing to complete an appearance for United, plying his trade under Arne Slot with Feyenoord last year.
More painfully, the Newcastle faithful had to say goodbye to one of their own, Elliot Anderson, for the 21-year-old midfielder joined divisional rivals Nottingham Forest in a £35m move and has since been likened to none other than Lionel Messi by Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith during the Tricky Trees’ victory over Palace on Monday evening.
These are costly sales, but good deals in the grand scheme: Newcastle’s biggest hitters remain on the books. There’s a young talent, sold not too long ago, whose departure actually predates that of Howe and PIF’s advent, and he might prove to be the biggest fumble of the lot.
Newcastle already sold their biggest talent
A little over three years ago, Newcastle sold Bobby Clark to Liverpool in a deal worth £1.5m. He was 16 years old, a talented winger with properties that called for a career in the centre of the park.
Described as “Newcastle’s most promising youngster” by the Chronicle’s Lee Ryder, a lack of ambition from Newcastle, under the rule of Ashley, proved to be one of the defining points in Clark’s decision to jump ship at that nascent stage of his career, with Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur also interested.
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Ryder had even drawn parallels between the youngster and the one and only Paul Gascoigne, saying: “You have always go to be very careful with comparisons but for me – and I don’t talk about this lightly – but at the same sort of age, you had a young Paul Gascoigne at Newcastle.”
After completing 14 senior appearances for Liverpool and a bagful more at youth level, the 19-year-old completed a £10m transfer to Austrian behemoths RB Salzburg, aggravating Newcastle’s blunder, of losing him for so little.
Matches (starts)
2 (2)
Goals
0
Assists
0
Touches*
53.5
Shots (on target)*
1.0 (0.5)
Pass completion
93%
Key passes*
1.5
Ball recoveries*
3.0
Tackles + interceptions*
5.0
Total duels won*
5.0 (71%)
Salzburg, led by Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders, have flattered to deceive so far this season and have lost their opening Champions League fixtures by an aggregate scoreline of 7-0, but Clark’s efforts have showcased his quality.
Still a teenager, he’s proving that he has what it takes on Europe’s biggest stage, having made a marked impact on Liverpool’s season amid an injury crisis in 2023/24, crucial in winning the Carabao Cup.
Given that he’s already seen a 566% rise in value – when referring to his £10m fee – and has so much scope for growth over the coming years, it must be frustrating to think that such a player was allowed to leave, not convinced of the club’s vision.
Of course, Newcastle’s vision was myopic at that stage. He left before the lucrative PIF takeover rewrote the Toon’s future, and perhaps would be plying his trade under Howe’s leadership, had he only stayed on for another year and seen the loping strides taken.
Alas, it can’t be changed now. Though the words of those such as journalist Charlie Bennett, who called it one of Ashley’s “costliest blunders in recent times”, ring painfully true to this day, with the short-term rush from a £1.5m payday negated now, looking at the figure that could have been collected.
There’s a good chance that Clark would have stayed on the books anyway. Liverpool let him go, sure, but did so with the insertion of an affordable buyback clause, having recognised the calibre of prospect that they had grudgingly let go, with Slot aware that he would simply be scrapping for one minute, two, amid the high-class quality of the first team.
He’s got flair and panache, a boyish avidity that, if sustained, hardened, could be utilised as an almighty weapon in a dynamic and all-encompassing midfield role.
A lad for the big occasion, he proved his European credentials last season, with Liverpool, and consolidated them now, with Salzburg. Last year, across two Europa League fixtures, he scored, won 82% of his duels, completed 90% of his passes and won six tackles, as per Sofascore.
With the likes of Lewis Miley proving his talent in Newcastle’s senior set-up and Anderson now blooming out in Nottingham, there’s a pleasing amount of academy talent starting to emerge from the youth ranks on Tyneside.
It’s just a shame that Clark’s still not there, a core part of that revolution.
Newcastle must regret deal for £15m flop who's now worth millions less
Newcastle must surely regret the move for the flop.
1 ByEthan LambOct 24, 2024