When the Saudi PIF takeover of Newcastle was completed in late 2021 the new ownership set about adding age and experience to their newly acquired investment.
By the end of their first January transfer window Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood and Dan Burn, all in their late 20s and early 30s with more than 1,200 professional appearances between them, had done just that.
Younger, highly-rated players in Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon, Real Sociedad’s Alexander Isak and Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali Everton winger Anthony Gordon followed over the next 18 months as Newcastle’s philosophy began to cement to blend quality, experience and potential to gatecrash the Premier League’s big boys.
But while the Toon Army have seen two Champions League campaigns come and go and have won their first silverware in generations, an elusive title race has never materialised.
Instead, after a nightmare summer in 2025, Eddie Howe’s side were forced to swallow the pill of finishing five points off newly-promoted arch-rivals Sunderland last season – and closer to the relegation zone than a Champions League qualifying spot.
The head coach demanded this transfer window was different, and it certainly has been. Under a new recruitment team led by Ross Wilson, Newcastle have been among the busiest players with a month to go before the start of the season and have already completed three signings and are close on a fourth in Monaco’s Aladji Bamba.
That is not the only way things have changed. The incoming quartet have played just 261 professional games between them and Lewis Miley aside, represent the four youngest senior players currently in Howe’s squad for this season.
It is an intentional change.
Where the St James’ Park hierarchy have looked for inspiration on how best to utilise the club’s situation, given PSR constraints and the lure of Premier League rivals, they have found Borussia Dortmund a source of inspiration, after the German side’s work on the likes of Jude Bellingham, Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland in recent years.
“Newcastle were always looking to bring in younger players by and large, take away the January transfer window immediately after the takeover when they were bringing in players like Dan Burn, Chris Wood and Kieran Trippier,” Sky Sports News’ north east reporter Keith Downie told the Sky Sports Newcastle United summer special podcast.
“But the model’s changed slightly in that they’re now looking at players between the ages of 18 and 24, if they can. And you look at the three players they’ve signed already, they fall within that bracket. And between £20 million and £40 million, that’s the kind of bracket that they’re working on.
“They’re trying to bring in young players with a high ceiling that they can, one, improve at the sale on a profit or two, stay with the club for a long time and continue to excel on the pitch.
“I asked a source at the club whether they were trying to be similar to a Brighton or a Brentford. And they said, no, it’s more like what Borussia Dortmund do.
“That’s no mean feat. Remember the chief executive spoke in March and said they want to be one of the best clubs in Europe by 2030. That’s only in four years’ time. They’re going to have to get this ball rolling quickly.”
‘Players have developed faster than PIF’s ambitions’
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Keith Downie speaks on the ‘mistakes’ in Newcastle’s recruitment in the 2025/26 season summer window and how they aim to restructure financially with the signings they aim to make in 2026/27.
Those lack of top-level minutes for Newcastle’s summer signings become more noteworthy because of the players leaving St James’ Park at the same time. Gordon had racked up almost 200 Premier League games by the time of his departure and Tonali likewise across the English top flight and Serie A.
Should 29-year-old Guimaraes follow, it will leave a chasm of experience in the club’s midfield.
Meanwhile, missing out on the likes of Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko last summer, and Johan Manzambi to Aston Villa this year, has raised questions over Newcastle’s ability to attract those big names – and keep them – has stagnated after the early years of PIF’s ambitious ownership.
“People are starting to accept that players arriving, Isak, Tonali, even Guimaraes, see Newcastle as a stepping stone to them,” explained Downie. “I think when they arrived, they maybe saw it as a potential end point for them.
“And they were promised that Newcastle were going to be up fighting. But as the years have ticked by, four and a half, nearly five years since the takeover, Newcastle aren’t fighting for a title.
“They have won just the one trophy, as great as it was.They’re not hitting those heady heights. So suddenly guys like Gordon, Tonali and Isak are thinking, ‘I’ve been here three or four years now, I want to go and win trophies and I want to be in Europe. I want to be in the Champions League every year.’
“The project hasn’t moved as quickly as the development of the players. And that’s a lot down to how good, how well Eddie Howe has coached them and improved them alongside his coaching staff.
“Manzambi had agreed to come to Newcastle. He had agreed to personal terms and was keen on the move. He just preferred Aston Villa. From what I’m told, that was just because Aston Villa are a Champions League club next season, and Newcastle are not.
“Of course, Newcastle were a Champions League club last summer, and they were missing out on players. But they were missing out to Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, more established, bigger-name clubs to players on the continent.”
