Newcastle United have come a long way. The agony of missing out on European football last season – largely due to unfortunate injury problems – was met with a chorus of disappointment.
Of course, losing your place on the continent due to a rival winning the FA Cup after finishing below you in the Premier League (looking at you, Manchester United) is always going to sting, but it’s the fact that the Magpies have found a sense of belonging in the upper echelon that has been such a marvel.
Hats off to you, Eddie Howe. While the pumped-in funding from PIF has been the fuel for the new era, it’s been used very well indeed, with the transfer strategy seeing a host of top-class players welcomed through the gates.
The shift in the frontline has been particularly exciting, for Newcastle now boast the likes of Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon, two of English football’s most coveted stars.
How Isak and Gordon are performing
Neither is at their peak. Gordon, Newcastle’s Player of the Year for 2023/24, has posted two goals from seven league matches thus far but hasn’t carried over the sparkling form that saw him earn acclaim last year, though it will come, for sure.
The same can be said for Isak, Newcastle’s club-record signing at £63m, joining from Real Sociedad in 2022. The Swede, aged 25, has only scored one goal and has spent the past three matches out injured with a broken toe, but has been hailed as a “world-class” striker by pundit Harry Redknapp in the past and will be back at the top of his game soon.
When the forwards click into gear, Newcastle will surely hit the vein of form that could propel them into the conversation for Champions League contention, having performed with stop-start fluency across the opening months.
Still, it’s a world away from the woes of former times, with forwards routinely failing to impress during the shadowed days of Mike Ashley. That bygone era is safely wiped from Tyneside, with the failed forwards long gone.
Some former forwards have since gone on to enjoy excellent careers, perhaps making a comment on the conditions at St. James’ Park back in the day. Luuk de Jong is one such player, thriving in his homeland since leaving a decade ago – in fact, he’s outperforming Isak and Gordon today.
When Luuk de Jong played for Newcastle
Newcastle signed De Jong on loan from German side Borussia Mönchengladbach in January 2014, with the centre-forward – 23 at the time – having struggled to adapt to life in the Bundesliga.
His time in England’s northeast was probably more inauspicious, with the Dutchman failing to score and starting just eight matches across the latter half of the 2013/14 campaign.
While the current PSV Eindhoven star flattered to deceive, it’s worth remembering that he entered a Newcastle outfit that was struggling significantly, losing 11 of the 15 Premier League matches that De Jong was at the club.
PSV Eindhoven
301
174
89
Twente
121
59
37
Sevilla
94
19
5
Gladbach
45
8
4
Barcelona
29
7
1
De Graafschap
19
3
2
Newcastle
12
0
1
Now in the twilit phase of his senior career, De Jong is still firing true from number nine, having scored six goals and added four more assists across ten matches in all competitions this term, also captaining his side against Juventus and Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.
As you have read earlier, Gordon and Isak have not been performing the prolific touch that served them so well last term, with three goals and one assist between them. De Jong might be 34 years old and past his best, but his experience and composure have allowed him to continue performing well in his homeland – and in Europe.
He might not find the same degree of success in the Premier League at this stage of his career, but it is an illustration that Newcastle might have eked out some talent from this veteran, had things been different.
Ultimately, though, it can only go down as a botched effort from the previous era.
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