Rating every Newcastle signing since 2021 takeover

The January transfer window is underway, marking two years since Newcastle United were first able to sign players after being taken over in October 2021.

Ahead of their blockbuster clash with Manchester City on Saturday evening, another club who were subject of a big-money takeover from the Middle East, Coral has rated every single signing Newcastle has made during that period on a scale of one to ten.

Big money deals for the likes of Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali have been included, as have moves for the likes of Lewis Hall and Dan Burn.

Kieran Trippier – 9/10

Kieram Trippier was the first signing of the post-takeover era for Newcastle, and what a move that ended up being for the club.

The England international quit sunny Madrid for Newcastle, who at the time, where in the midst of a relegation battle, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Trippier steered Newcastle to safety, and in his first full season at the club, ended up captaining the side to Champions League qualification, a fantastic achievement so early on after the takeover.

On his day, Trippier is one of England’s best full-backs, so for a price of £12 million plus add-ons, his move to Newcastle represented a fantastic piece of business for the club.

Chris Wood – 4/10

At the time, the signing of Chris Wood raised a few eyebrows amongst both fans of Newcastle and supporters of rival clubs.

With Callum Wilson out for two months, Newcastle activated Wood’s release clause, paying Burnley £30 million to secure the New Zealand international’s signature.

Wood ended up playing 35 times in the league for Newcastle, scoring four goals along the way, before leaving for Nottingham Forest during the second half of last season.

His loan move was made permanent, costing the former Championship side around £15 million, with Newcastle losing out on half of the money they invested in the striker after just 18 months.

Wood is a good striker, and he’s shown that by eight goals in 25 games for Forest, but given his price tag and the fact he’s already left the club, and not for a profit, perhaps this wasn’t the smartest piece of business.

Matt Targett – 5/10

In his first window as Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe brought Matt Targett to the club on loan from Aston Villa, who had fallen out of favour at Villa Park following the arrival of Lucas Digne.

Targett was ever-present for Newcastle after joining, helping to ensure the club remained in the Premier League for the following season, who his move was made permanent for around £15 million.

However, just after joining the club permanently, Targett found himself used as much more of a back-up player, with Dan Burn prefered by Howe as the first-choice left-back for his side in his first full season in charge.

Despite not being a first-time regular, Newcastle could have done a lot worse than Targett as a back-up left-back, and the fact that the ex-Southampton man was brought in for a pretty modest fee means that his signing can’t be looked back too badly.

Dan Burn – 7.5/10

From one left-back to another, Dan Burn was brought into the club from Brighton in January 2022, and immediately became a fan favourite.

A man with Premier League experience a deep love for Newcastle, the club he grew up supporting, it was clear from the offset that Burn was going to win over the Geordie fans, some of whom questioned why his signing had been sanctioned.

With Trippier bombing up-and-down the right-flank, Burn provided the defensive solidity that Howe needed, and became a vital part of the side that qualified for the Champions League at the end of the 2022/23 season.

While Burn will probably have to be replaced if Newcastle want to become a regular top four side, for the price of just £13 million, his move to the club cannot be described as anything other than a success.

Bruno Guimaraes – 9.5/10

Despite being tracked by the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and even Real Madrid at the time, Bruno Guimaraes left Lyon to join Newcastle as the club’s biggest signing in the 2022 January transfer window.

Bruno took time to settle into life in the Premier League, but once he got going, the Brazilian international immediately established himself as one of the league’s very best midfielders.

He won over Newcastle fans, not only with his fantastic performances on the pitch, but by understand exactly what the club is all about.

Even if he doesn’t stay for several more years, Newcastle will make serious profit on Bruno if they do decide to cash-in and sell the player, but fans will be hoping that doesn’t happen.

A fantastic move for Newcastle, it’s hard to look past Bruno as arguably the best signing of the post-takeover era.

Nick Pope – 8/10

Joining in the summer of 2022 in what marked the start of the Saudi PIF’s first full season in charge was goalkeeper Nick Pope, who signed from Burnley.

After Burnley were relegated to the Championship, Newcastle viewed Pope as a cheap option to bring in between the sticks, providing some much-needed Premier League experience in goal for the Geordies.

The signing worked out too, with Pope being regarded as one of the league’s best keepers in this first season with Newcastle, helping bring Champions League football back to St James Park in the process.

Perhaps not the best with the ball at his feet, the England international remains a top class shotstopper, and is seen by Howe as a dependable member of his side.

Sven Botman – 8/10

Just like Bruno, Sven Botman was being tracked by the likes of Liverpool and other clubs on the continent before his move to Newcastle ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The Dutchman immediately slotted into the centre-back position for Newcastle, forming a fantastic partnership with Fabian Schar, who has drastically improved since Howe took over as manager.

Botman is fantastic on the ball, as well as being a great traditional defender. Whether he remains at Newcastle for years to come remains to be seen, but even if he does leave, the club would likely be able to sell him on for a healthy profit, which always represents good business.

He’s at the club now though, and is showing no sign of leaving anytime soon. While he’s had an injury hit season so far, there’s no denying that Botman’s move to Newcastle in 2022 has been nothing short of a sucess.

Alexander Isak – 8.5/10

In terms of what a pure striker needs to have in their arsenal, there are few better in the Premier League than Alexander Isak.

While his injury record may be a cause of concern for some fans, Isak is a quality striker when he can stay fit, with a fantastic eye for goal.

The Swede scored ten goals in 22 games in his first season at the club, but firmly became first choice ahead of Callum Wilson ahead of his second campaign, where at the time of publishing, he’s scored nine goals in 15 games.

Isak wasn’t cheap, arriving from Real Sociedad for just over £60 million, but for that price point, you’re going to struggle to find many better strikes, and given that he’s only 24, he could be banging them in for Newcastle for the next decade.

Loris Karius – 3/10

It feels harsh to rate Karius only a three, given that he’s not actually done anything wrong whilst at Newcastle, but it’s hard to give him a higher score given that he’s hardly played for the club.

To date, Karius’ only appearance for Newcastle arguably came in the club’s biggest game in decades, when he started in goal for the Geordies in the Carabao Cup final last year in a 2-0 loss to Manchester United.

Karius was signed merely as a back-up goalkeeper for Newcastle, and joined on a free too. His signing was about as low-risk as a transfer can get, and Howe would have likely never thought he’d actually have to use the German in one of his starting XIs.

Garang Kuol – 6/10

Garang Kuol hasn’t actually played a game for Newcastle yet, but he’s someone that the club, and its fans, are pretty excited about.

Newcastle beat several top clubs to sign the Australian, who officially joined in January 2023. Still a teenager, the future remains pretty bright for the young winger, who if all goes to plan, could be playing at St James Park for several years.

The signing was an exciting one, there’s no doubt, and felt like the first instance of Newcastle’s board putting some money into proper future planning the club, rather than just buying players who could impact the first team immediately, something that all top sides have to do.

Anthony Gordon – 8/10

Eyebrows were raised when Newcastle paid Everton £40 million to bring Anthony Gordon to the club, but the winger has gone on to become one of the league’s most exciting players this campaign.

Newcastle saw the potential in Gordon, who was also the subject of interest from Chelsea, and believed he had all the makings of a top player. The England youth international has scored seven goals in the 35 games he’s played for Newcastle since joining, and the 2023/24 seaosn has been seen as somewhat of a break year for the talented forward.

Still only 22, Gordon has his best years ahead of him, and if all goes according to plan, he’ll be playing for Newcastle for the majority of his career.

Harrison Ashby – 5/10

Signed in the 2023 January transfer window, Ashby joined Newcastle from West Ham as a signing for the future, and that’s been seen by the fact that he’s actually yet to play a competitive game for the club.

Ashby, a right-back by trade, remained at Newcastle for the remainder of the 2022/23 season, but was sent out on loan to Swansea for the 2023/24 campaign, where he’s played 11 games and scored one goal.

Signed for less than £4 million, even if Ashby doesn’t make it as a regular first-team player for Newcastle, the club could end up selling the 22-year-old on for profit, so his signing can’t be viewed as a complete failure.

Harvey Barnes – 6/10

Signed from relegated Leicester City in the summer of 2023 to provide competition for Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron, this season hasn’t exactly gone to plan for Harvey Barnes.

Barnes has only scored once so far for Newcastle in the Premier League, although he’s only played six domestic league games, having been out of the majority of the campaign due to injury.

Howe will be hoping that, when he’s fit and firing again, he can rely on Barnes either for from the start of games or off the bench, but he’s not done enough for his signing to be regarded as a success, just yet anyway.

Sandro Tonali – 5/10

Sandro Tonali started off his Newcastle career incredibly well, scoring on his debut against Aston Villa in a 5-1 win following his big-money move from AC Milan over the summer.

However, after playing just eight times in the league, Tonali was hit with a ban, which will rule him out of the remainder of the 2023/24 season, as well as the European Championship this summer, where he’d have likely been selected to represent Italy.

The circumstances surrounding Tonali’s signing were unfortunate, there’s no getting away from that. Howe thought he’d signed a top class midfielder who’d play the majority of games for his side this season, but that’s not how things have panned out.

However, time is on Tonali’s side. The 23-year-old will be back next season, so he’s still got a lot of time to prove that Newcastle were right to spend big on bringing him to the Premier League last year.

Yankuba Minteh – 6/10

Like Kuol, Minteh was signed as a player for the future for Newcastle, joining from OB in Denmark for just over £6 million.

Immediately after joining, Minteh was sent on loan to Eredivisie side Feyenoord, who qualified for the Champions League after winning the league last year.

The winger has scored four goals in 18 games since moving to Holland on a temporary basis, and will be hoping to replicate that form when he’s brought back to Newcastle, potentially ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Tino Livramento – 7/10

Tino Livarmento has bene thrusted into the first-team as a result of Newcastle’s injury crisis this season, and performed incredibly well for the Geordies, proving that Howe was right to bring him to the club from Southampton,

The right-back is full of potential, and will likely be the heir to Trippier’s throne, but his versatility has seen him deputise at left-back at points this season, both in the league and in Europe, doing incredibly well when called upon.

The future is quite simple for Tino, he’ll either remain at Newcastle for a good period of time, becoming an incredibly important servant for the club, or he’ll be sold on, likely to be a bigger club, for a healthy profit. His signing will undoubtedly be seen as a success, if it isn’t already.

Lewis Hall – 6/10

From one former Chelsea man to someone who is technically still contracted to the club, Lewis Hall joined Newcastle on loan ahead of the 2023/24 season, but there’s been some debate about what the future holds for him next.

While it was initially believed that Hall would be joining Newcastle permanently next season, Howe has hinted that he’s yet to meet certain criteria that would make his move official.

Hall broke into Chelsea’s first team last season, and many fans were expecting him to take even more steps this year now that he’s moved to Newcastle, but the 19-year-old has only played seven times in the league for the Magpies, despite his side’s injury woes.

The deal can’t be seen as a failure, as either he’ll rejoin Chelsea next summer or sign for Newcastle next summer whilst still a teenager, but he hasn’t done enough to be rated any higher as of right now.

Newcastle host Man City in the Premier League on Saturday evening, with Coral pricing the Geordies at 9/2 to walk away with all three points.

Pep Guardiola’s side, however, look to be hitting their stride after a rough patch of form towards the end of 2023, and are priced at 4/7 to beat Newcastle away from home this weekend.