Newcastle United entered the international break off the back of a subdued 0-0 draw away at Everton, with Anthony Gordon’s gutting penalty miss the main point of action from the contest, as the Toffees home faithful took great joy in ridiculing their former youth product’s blunder from the spot.
Still, even with this underwhelming stalemate being his side’s final taste of Premier League action before the break, Eddie Howe will be pleased with the efforts of his Magpies team on the whole, with the Tyneside outfit only losing one of seven league clashes to date.
Howe will hope he can call upon Alexander Isak in the games to come, with the Swedish sharpshooter nowhere to be seen away in Merseyside owing to a broken toe.
It remains to be seen whether he will be immediately thrown into action for Newcastle’s first game back versus Brighton, with Isak a hit with the St. James’ Park masses when at the top of his game.
Isak's time with Newcastle
Isak cost the Magpies a club-record £63m fee when he arrived through the door in the summer of 2022, leaving behind Real Sociedad for a new challenge in England having set La Liga alight with his goalscoring prowess.
Boasting 44 strikes from 132 games playing out in Spain, the 25-year-old has since taken to his new surroundings like a duck to water, with an impressive goal tally already next to his name when donning a Magpies strip.
The lofty 6 foot 4 menace has bagged 36 strikes from 73 games since making the switch to Tyneside, with this debut campaign seeing the Scandinavian bag a quickfire ten goals from just 22 clashes.
He hasn’t quite got up and running this season to date, however, with only a goal and one assist collected, with Isak having to sit out the last three encounters in league and cup due to that broken toe.
Still, everyone with associations to the Tyneside outfit will expect Isak to return to his goalscoring best as soon as shrugs off his injury, with Howe’s men very much missing the exploits of their star man away at Everton when Gordon unexpectedly started up top.
With Callum Wilson also sidelined, there aren’t plentiful striker options at St James’ Park, which will be a concern to the Magpies boss moving forward.
If only Newcastle could turn back time to stop one catastrophic error from happening in a bid to strengthen their attacking numbers.
Newcastle's major striker error
Nobody would have anticipated the amazing rise of this former youngster when he spread his wings away from Newcastle, but it’s a decision that will be haunting all the same.
In 2018, the Magpies inexplicably allowed Ivan Toney to leave the building for just £500k to League One Peterborough United, after continually shipping the then wide-eyed forward out on loan to various different EFL clubs, instead of ever really giving him extended time in the senior mix.
In total, Toney would only make a paltry four appearances in the Newcastle first-team fold, before exploding into life in Cambridgeshire with sublime strikes like the one above nothing out of the ordinary during his spell at Peterborough.
He would seamlessly slot into the set-up at Posh, with a stunning 49 goals registered from 94 games, before moving up a division to the Championship with Brentford in 2020.
Already, Newcastle would have been plagued with regret, knowing that they never quite gave Toney the chance to blossom into a terrifying goal machine back at their own patch.
Instead, Brentford managed to get even more out of the deadly 6 foot 1 striker after he left Posh behind, with the now 28-year-old attacker hammering home a ridiculous 33 league goals during his debut season with the Bees, which culminated in Thomas Frank’s men winning promotion up to the big time.
23/24
17
4
22/23
35
21
21/22
37
14
20/21
52
33
Although his final year on the books of the West London club would be embroiled in controversy, owing to a betting ban significantly reducing his minutes on the pitch, Toney would undoubtedly walk away from Brentford as a modern-day great earlier this year, having notched up 72 strikes from 141 total games.
He would even be labelled as “unplayable” by Toon hero Alan Shearer in 2022, with the legendary striker no doubt aggrieved that the ice-cold finisher wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip at St James’ Park.
The 28-year-old striker won’t ever replay his ending with Newcastle back in his head, however, with the decision to walk away from Tyneside proving to be a genius one, as Toney now rakes in obscene amounts of cash playing out in Saudi Arabia for Al-Ahli.
Toney's wage at Al-Ahli
Before examining his outrageous pay packet, Newcastle will also feel sick with how little they got out of Peterborough four years ago, considering Al-Ahli had to fork out £40m to win the England international’s services.
Toney is already justifying that bumper price tag, with three strikes from seven games while donning his new Al-Ahli colours, with the 28-year-old presumably loving life in his new Middle Eastern location.
Player
Wage
1. Bruno Gumiaraes
£160k-per-week
= 2. Joelinton
£150k-per-week
= 2. Lloyd Kelly
£150k-per-week
4. Sandro Tonali
£120k-per-week
= 4. Kieran Trippier
£120k-per-week
= 4. Alexander Isak
£120k-per-week
5. Matt Targett
£100k-per-week
Sourced by Capology/FFC.
Whilst Isak will be content with his £120k-per-week pay packet, alongside Bruno Guimaraes being the top Magpies earner at £160k-per-week, Toney will be staggeringly raking in £411k-per-week out in Saudi Arabia as he continues to benefit at his old club’s expense.
In an alternate reality, Newcastle would have got the best out of Toney and played a major role in the milestones he has managed to achieve, instead of just being one of the insignificant first chapters of his whirlwind story.
But, the Magpies won’t want to feel too bogged down by their past errors for long, especially if Isak returns fully fit soon and hopefully fires in more goals for Howe’s men to take strides up the league standings.
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ByAngus Sinclair Oct 11, 2024