In 2024/25, Newcastle United would view a poor campaign as one that concludes without a concerted shot at silverware and without qualifying for next year’s European competition.
How things have changed. Eddie Howe has been the architect of something special since his appointment shortly after the lucrative PIF takeover.
But we need only cast our mind back across the past 15 seasons and view two Toon relegations from the Premier League – with plenty of near misses and disappointing finishes throughout.
Oh sure, Newcastle have deeper pockets than once before, but the errant strategy has also been swatted away. High-profile signings of players such as Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon have hit the mark.
It wasn’t always the case, with money spent hastily and efforts to land top targets falling short. The transfer of Gabriel Obertan is one such case – just wait until you hear who could have been signed instead.
Why Newcastle signed Gabriel Obertan
It was the summer of 2011, and Newcastle were about to be treated to a season of Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba-fuelled wonder, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
But not everything worked out all dandy. That same summer, Obertan moved to Newcastle from Manchester United in a deal worth £3m. The 22-year-old had featured 21 times for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils after emerging from the youth ranks, but he scored just one goal and patently needed a fresh lease of life.
Newcastle struggled to give him the conditions he needed – and vice versa, in a way. But it didn’t work out in any case, with Obertan suffering injury misfortune and failing to grow into the player that Ferguson thought he might become, having once hailed him as an “exciting prospect”.
And it was luckless fitness dips that proved to form the crux of Obertan’s woes at St. James’ Park, for he was scarcely found in the starting lineup in the Premier League and failed to hit the consistency that would have earned him the right kind of form.
Indeed, Obertan scored three goals and added ten assists across 77 matches for Newcastle, meaning that he technically cost the club £1m per goal.
15/16
6 (4)
0
1
14/15
16 (11)
1
2
13/14
5 (0)
0
0
12/13
24 (14)
1
3
11/12
26 (19)
2
4
Grim reading, especially when considering the track that Newcastle took to secure the Frenchman’s signature. Mike Ashley’s Magpies were unable to cash in on their wayward venture due to his issues, and thus he trundled through his contract and departed on a free in 2016, having not returned to the Premier League since.
It could have been so different, for Newcastle could have signed Mohamed Salah instead…
When Newcastle missed out on Mohamed Salah
It’s a well-known name on the English scene. Salah has been the veritable lifeforce of Liverpool’s frontline throughout an illustrious point in their history, notably winning the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup under Jurgen Klopp’s wing.
One of the Premier League’s finest forwards, Salah, aged 32, has scored 160 goals and supplied 72 assists across 267 matches in England’s top flight, principally for Liverpool but also, briefly, for Chelsea.
The Egypt international is widely regarded as a “world-class” player, as Klopp states below, but he really could have enjoyed his rise and rise as a Magpie – just think of the difference it could have made over the past decade.
It dates back to the winger’s humble beginnings in his homeland, with Al Mokawloon, one of Egypt’s most prestigious outfits. Newcastle had noted his potential and wanted to bring him across the seas and allow him to cut his teeth in the Premier League.
There’s no word of mouth here, the news came from the man himself, who said back in 2011: “Newcastle will soon make an official offer to sign me for one season. I don’t think contractors will refuse to let me play in the English Premier League. It’s a dream for any player to play in one of the strongest league competitions in the world.”
It, obviously, didn’t work out. Salah would move to FC Basel and hone his craft in Switzerland before catching Chelsea’s attention and transferring to the Premier League for an £11m fee in 2014.
But just think of what could have been. Salah has become one of Europe’s most devastating players at Anfield and actually emerged as the Saudi Pro League’s top transfer target in 2023, with Al Ittihad willing to pay £150m for his services – this was rejected by Liverpool who clearly valued him even higher.
Newcastle have had to live with the fact that they opted against signing Salah way back when. Let’s face it, the young talent was awestruck by the prospect of donning the black and white stripes and would have boarded the first plane had Ashley’s outfit followed up their interest with a bid.
He signed for Basel in 2012 for an undisclosed figure that can’t have been much more than was paid for Obertan at Newcastle one year earlier, so it would take a brave football fanatic to stake a convincing argument as to why, in hindsight, the Magpies decided not to swoop.
Anyway, it’s all water under a bridge. Newcastle are on the up and are targetting new levels of success once again this season – deals like this one matter little now, but it’s a stark reminder not to deviate from the thriving strategy of modern times.
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