It’s been three months since the English Premier League club Newcastle United has been taken over from Mike Ashley. On 7 October 2021, the club was bought for 300 million pounds by a consortium led by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund. The purchase made Newcastle the wealthiest club in the world.
After becoming the richest club and battling relegation, every football fan eagerly waited to see how the Magpies would spend money in the winter transfer to strengthen their squad to remain in the Premier League. Newcastle was always likely to be the English Premier League’s most active club in the January transfer window. Now, the winter transfer window is closed, and the club did not disappoint the fans.
Newcastle United splashed money, and it was a lot more than expected. Five players have moved to St James’ Park this month at a cost of more than $120 million as the club’s Saudi ownership made its presence felt in the first transfer window.
Only time will tell if the signings are enough to keep Newcastle in the league. Currently, the team is in the relegation zone, one point from safety with 17 games left. But the squad certainly looks in much better shape.
The five players who arrived at st. James Park are:
Kieran Trippier
Chris Wood
Bruno Guimares
Matt Targett
Dan Burn
Newcastle’s first signing was from the Spanish Champions Atletico Madrid, and the player was the English right-back Kieran Trippier. Trippier cost a reported 12 million pounds. The England international has already made two appearances for Eddie Howe’s side.
After his move, he pointed out how Manchester City flourished into a top club after the club was bought by the City Football Group 13 years ago. The 31-year-old said: “You have only got to look at Manchester City. They did it (built the club following the takeover in 2008) the right way. They bought the right players at the right time, the right characters. They did it well.”
They bought Chris Wood from Burnley after triggering the release clause of 25 million pounds in his contract. It was a piece of bad news for Burnley as they were also battling relegation. But they managed to replace Wood with the Dutch International Wout Weghorst from Wolfsburg for 12m pounds.
Bruno Guimares was the star signing for the club in the winter transfer window. After two years at French club Lyon, the 24-year-old Guimares joined for 50.1 million euros plus 20% of any future sell-on value. He is a Brazil international with three caps to his name.
Matt Targett joined from Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season and has proven Premier League experience, having also played for Southampton.
Dan Burn was the last and final signing for the club. It was also the return for Dan Burn to his local boyhood club. He was released by Newcastle at age 11 and returns 18 years later for 13 million pounds.