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Newcastle’s summer signings assessed
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- Newcastle’s summer signings assessed
Matis Fernandez-Pardo, Newcastle's most expensive summer signing, has yet to score a Premier League goal or make one - PA/Nick Potts
It was heralded as Newcastle United 2.0 as the club sold off its crown jewels and replaced them with a group of "future stars" to usher in a new era.
It was an ambitious summer rebuild as the club shifted to a much-needed player-trading model under Ross Wilson, the sporting director, who insisted in September they had "executed their summer plan almost to its entirety".
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Even the loss of manager Eddie Howe – who quit in July partly because he was unimpressed with the summer's recruitment following the failure to sign Victor Muñoz and Johan Manzambi – did not put a dent in the Newcastle hierarchy's self-confidence.
This was going to be a younger, more dynamic squad that would grow with the club as they looked to live up to the promise made by David Hopkinson, the chief executive, that they would be "consistently and credibly challenging" for top honours in England and Europe by 2030.
Having sold Bruno Guimarães (£73m), Sandro Tonali (£90m) and Anthony Gordon (£67m), Newcastle were able to spend roughly £262.9m on eight players to reinvigorate the squad as they once again talked about challenging for European qualification in Matthias Jaissle's first season as manager.
Newcastle are 12th in the Premier League, but have had an inconsistent start and there are concerns that too many of these signings have failed to shine. Jaissle is leaning heavily on the players he inherited from Howe instead.
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Telegraph Sport takes a closer look at the new arrivals and assesses their early impact
Goalkeepers
The Czech Republic international is the clear first choice under Jaissle, replacing Nick Pope. He is certainly not the biggest cause for concern, although you can question whether he has made enough match-defining saves. Newcastle have conceded 14 goals in eight Premier League games this season, the fifth highest in the division.
Hornicek has not made many highlight-reel stops in that time but he has not made many mistakes either. Is he an upgrade on Pope? Not when you compare him with the early version of the England international at Newcastle, but his form deteriorated rapidly last season and the team needed a change in goal.
This felt a little strange as the first signing of the summer given he was going to be back-up to a new first-choice goalkeeper, but the Frenchman was being scouted by a number of Europe's top clubs based on his potential.
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Jaouen looked shaky in his only appearance of the season in a 3-2 Carabao Cup win over West Bromwich Albion and is now injured. But he is young and was not expected to start many games this season.
The question is, given James Trafford was Howe's first-choice goalkeeper signing, would Newcastle have been better off signing him for an initial £40m rather than two cheaper players in the same position? Given Trafford's good start for Leeds you would have to say yes.
Defenders
The Bosnia international has looked good going forward and has had some impressive games in a Newcastle shirt. The team has looked more balanced when he is playing at right-back compared with midfielder Lewis Miley.
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But the full-back has also made a number of individual errors that have been punished and was particularly poor in the 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat by Everton last week. As a Premier League defender he has much to learn, but he has talent. At the moment it is debatable whether he is an upgrade on England international Tino Livramento who will surely start if he can get fit enough.
Midfielders
He looks like he is going to be an outstanding player. You can already see the quality he possesses in both feet and why he was signed as the long-term successor to Guimarães. Newcastle knew they would have to be careful with the teenager, and the plan was to introduce him slowly so he could adapt to the physicality of the Premier League.
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That caution is understandable, but Newcastle have looked like a more coherent and fluid team with him in it. The problem is the system Jaissle plays only accommodates two centre-midfield players and the German has preferred the experience of Nico González in his position. Nevertheless, there is every reason to believe the young Dutchman will develop into an excellent player for Newcastle.
Jaissle demanded a more experienced midfield player when he arrived as manager and Wilson, who also looked into signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Marseille and João Palhinha from Bayern Munich, eventually landed González.
There have been some impressive moments from the Spaniard and he was superb in the away wins over Tottenham and Crystal Palace. But there are also concerns over his lack of mobility. Newcastle have been overrun in midfield, especially when teams expose their openness in transition.
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González, though, looks like a good signing, with the right age profile to improve as he becomes more settled. I would like to see a tinker with the formation so that Steur, González and Joelinton are in the same midfield, but is Jaissle willing to adjust the structure of the side to be more pragmatic?
Newcastle pivoted to the young French midfielder when they lost out to Aston Villa for Manzambi. It has not gone well. The fact he has barely played under Jaissle proves he does not think he is ready for the Premier League.
In truth, we do not know how good he will be because we have not seen any evidence yet. He was another player signed for his potential, but the fee looks hefty given his lack of impact.
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Forwards
He has looked raw and naive which is why Jaissle has been reluctant to start the Ivory Coast international. He is also small and lacks the athletic profile of many modern Premier League wingers, but there is a potentially a really good player in there.
Newcastle knew it was going to take time to see the best of Touré. When they signed so many young players they recognised it could take months of acclimatisation before they were ready to contribute regularly. Touré has a lot of improvements to make but there have been some flashes as a substitute that show he will offer a threat. The size of the fee, though, suggested a player ready to make an immediate impact.
There was much excitement when Newcastle finally landed one of their first-choice summer targets on deadline day. They had initially feared the Belgium international would not be obtainable, but no Champions League clubs came in willing to pay the fee or wages demanded.
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Fernandez-Pardo did not have a proper pre-season at Lille and has missed the past couple of games with an injury. So far, he has been underwhelming and it has been hard to see what all the fuss was about.
He looks like he could be an exciting winger in the Premier League; the problem is he believes he is a centre-forward. Newcastle need to work out how best to use him, whether that is out wide or through the middle as a second striker. He does not look physically equipped to play as a lone No 9 in Jaissle's system which relies on a lot of direct balls in the air.
