It’s fair to say that Newcastle United haven’t always got it right in the transfer market, especially under Mike Ashley.
The Magpies have made enough mistakes to be in a better position when it comes to spending their new-found riches. Now in their first summer as one of the richest clubs in world football, they’ll be hoping to have learnt from previous mistakes.
With that said, we’ve ranked Newcastle United’s biggest flops of the Premier League era.
10) Sol Campbell
Featuring one of the greatest Premier League centre-backs of all time on this list feels somewhat ludicrous, but here Sol Campbell is.
The idea of signing experience is always a harmless one; a helpful one, if you will.
But, the fact is, sometimes experience doesn’t necessarily bring a player in their prime and ready to perform, as Newcastle found out when signing a 35-year-old Campbell.
He made a total of eight appearances before slipping away into retirement.
9) Jean-Alain Boumsong
When a player’s former club are surprised to see a player attract interest for a fairly decent fee, then the buying club are in big trouble.
The scout who took the central defender to Rangers, Paul Montgomery, told Chronicle Live: “I said ‘he can’t play in the Premier League’.
“When we signed him, I told Alex, ‘he’ll be like Beckenbauer in Scotland but when we play the good teams in Europe, he’ll get found out’.”
And, best believe, that’s exactly what happened.
8) Claudio Cacapa
Claudio Cacapa’s time at Newcastle was summed up when Sam Allardyce subbed the Brazilian off with just 18 minutes on the clock against Portsmouth.
This was a player fresh off the back of six Ligue 1 titles.
Yet, come the end of his time at St James’ Park, this was a player destined for the ‘flop’ category of Premier League transfers.
In total, he played 29 times for the club and left to no fanfare whatsoever.
7) Hugo Viana
Billed as one of the best young players in world football at 19, Newcastle mustn’t have believed their luck when they managed to sign Hugo Viana.
But that lucky feeling soon turned into incredible disappointment.
The midfielder scored just four goals in 61 appearances for Newcastle and he departed for Sporting Lisbon in 2004.
He’s actually gone on to have a decent career, and played 29 times for Portugal; he just couldn’t adjust at Newcastle.
6) Siem de Jong
The football gods just didn’t want Siem de Jong to star, or even consistently feature, for Newcastle.
The Dutchman arrived in 2014, before going through injury hell.
The former Ajax man even suffered a collapsed lung at St James’ Park. Say what you want about De Jong as a player, but the fact is, he didn’t exactly get the luck he needed at Newcastle.
In the end, he only managed to play 26 times for the club and only scored twice; he’s still going, and is now playing for De Graafschap in Holland’s second-tier.
5) Chancel Mbemba
Since leaving Newcastle, Chancel Mbemba has flourished at Porto, hitting the form of his life.
So, what went wrong at Newcastle?
Well, for starters, in his final season at the club, the centre-back was forced to play out of position at full-back, which is not how you help a struggling central defender.
It’s also fair to say that Mbemba featured in a difficult era for Newcastle, making things even more difficult.
4) Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa
Arriving as a Ligue 1-winning captain, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa seemed to have all the potential to become a real asset for Newcastle.
He made just 46 appearances in 18 months, however, and fell victim to the Magpies’ habit of playing struggling centre-backs at full-back, before leaving the club.
Amazingly, he actually seemed to thrive after leaving the club, even playing in the Champions League for both Roma and Lyon.
Now, though, he’s without a club.
3) Seydou Doumbia
Every Fifa player would have been excitedly rambling on about just how good Seydou Doumbia was in 2016 after seeing the forward join Newcastle on loan.
And, in fairness, he wasn’t just a good player in the video game, his record at CSKA Moscow spoke for itself, as he netted 95 goals in 150 games for the club, before making just three appearances for Newcastle.
He just didn’t seem to fit in at the club and was not kept around; he later had spells at Basel, Sporting Lisbon, Girona and Sion before bringing the curtain down on his career at Maltese club Hamrun Spartans.
2) Florian Thauvin
Florian Thauvin must be one of Newcastle’s biggest regrets when you look at how he’s done since leaving the club.
Of course, the Frenchman didn’t help himself, however, opting to do his best 007 impression by arriving dressed in a full tux in a home game against Watford.
But, he clearly had talent, given the fact that he has since starred for Marseille back in France.
During his time at Newcastle, though, he played just 16 times and only scored one goal. What a shame.
1) Remy Cabella
Remy Cabella arrived at Newcastle United as a player meant to be the difference-maker; the man to take the Magpies out of mediocrity.
In the end, however, he was the exact opposite, making 34 appearances in one season for Newcastle and scoring just the one goal in what was an incredibly disappointing spell in England.
Having cost £12m from French club Montpellier, he was a bitter disappointment, and has since played for Marseille, Saint-Etienne, Krasnodar, Montpellier, again, and Lille.
So, there you have it, our list of Newcastle United’s biggest flops of the Premier League era. We’re sure that, if the Magpies spend their riches unwisely in the coming transfer windows, then this list will need a re-write. As of right now, however, their business deserves a bit of praise. The players that they have welcomed since the takeover have been nothing but smart acquisitions.
