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Ranking every Newcastle United January transfer window from worst to best (20-16)

2 years ago
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For fans, the recent Newcastle United January transfer window was a refreshing reminder of what can be achieved with a dose of ambition.

Despite a slew of – ultimately unsuccessful – protracted bids for the likes of Diego Carlos, Sven Botman and Jesse Lingard, and an eleventh-hour Hugo Ekitike snub, the Magpies were the highest spending club on the planet during the winter aperture, splashing around £90m on five new acquisitions.

Always a challenging time to conduct business, the mid-season window is one which has often passed the Toon by without a tremor since its inception during the 2002-03 season.

Dom Kureen ranks all 20 of Newcastle’s January transfer windows to date, listing any notable deals that took place.

PART ONE (20-16)

20. Old Firm Favours (2005)

IN
Jean Alain-Boumsong (£8.5m, Glasgow Rangers)

Amdy Faye (£2m, Portsmouth)

Celestine Babayaro (Free, Chelsea)

OUT

Craig Bellamy (Loan, Celtic)

Olivier Bernard (£400k, Southampton)

Ronny Johnsen (Free, Valarenga)

Round up

Miserable Scot Graeme Souness set about gradually eroding team spirit at NE1, leading to the loan departure of in-form Craig Bellamy and sale of beloved full-back Olivier Bernard.

Signings were dreadful and illogical, accentuated by clumsy French centre-half Boumsong, a player that the previous manager Sir Bobby Robson rejected on a free transfer five months earlier, and who had bumbled along since in the weaker Scottish Premier League.

Amdy Faye was a player akin to Jeff Hendrick after a dose of Diazepam, whilst Babayaro was more intent on partying than playing at this stage in his decline.

19. Lua-Lua blunder proves costly (2004)

IN

Michael Bridges (Loan, Leeds)

OUT

Nolberto Solano (£1.5m, Aston Villa)

Carl Cort (£2m, Wolves)

Lomana Tresor Lua-Lua (£100k loan, Portsmouth)

Nikos Dabizas (Free, Leicester City)

Clarence Acuna (Free, Rosario Central

Round up

On the face of it, Sir Bobby Robson was clearing dead wood to clear a path for promising youngsters on the books, but the sale of Nobby Solano meant the side lacked natural width on the right – central midfielder Lee Bowyer often shunted into a wide role.
The biggest blunder was reserved for Lua-Lua, who joined Portsmouth on loan for a small fee, with the club forgetting to include a clause preventing him from playing when the two sides met at Fratton Park a short time later.

Predictably, the diminutive Congolese livewire scored a late equaliser to deny Newcastle a crucial three points in their Champions League hunt, with the Toon having to content themselves with fifth place instead.

18. Legends leg it (2014)

IN

Luuk De Jong (£1m loan, Borussia Monchengladbach)

OUT

Yohan Cabaye (£19m, Paris St Germain)

Jonas Gutierrez (Loan, Norwich)

Round up

Having only signed Loic Remy on loan in the summer, Newcastle added the first of two cursed De Jong brothers to the squad later that year, with striker Luuk (pictured above) failing to trouble the scorers in 13 listless appearances.

Issue 264 – 14 January 2012

Wantaway Cabaye was allowed to leave, despite having the most prolific spell of his career, and Jonas was unceremoniously dumped out on loan to avoid triggering a contract extension.

Unsurprisingly, the club’s promising season lurched from the fringes of Champions League places to the limbo of mid-table, as apathy saw a promising side plunged into rapid decline, with relegation confirmed within 18 months.

17. Loan Rangers (2015)

IN

None

OUT

Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (£5.5m, Roma)

Davide Santon (Loan, Inter Milan)

Hatem Ben Arfa (Released)

Kevin Mbabu, Haris Vuckic, Shane Ferguson, Gael Bigirimana (All loaned to Rangers)

Round up

Mike Ashley had purchased around 9% of the shares in Rangers the previous October and now lumbered the Scottish club with four injury-prone Newcastle youngsters on full wages – only Vuckic played more than one game for the Glasgow side.

Issue 271 – 8 September 2012

The sad decline of Ben Arfa saw the final months of the mercurial winger’s contact paid off, while Yanga-Mbiwa had failed to adapt to the pace of the English game and was cut loose.

Davide Santon, reluctant to leave, was forced out having fallen from favour, and the clueless John Carver steered the side to a depressing eight consecutive defeats – the club tumbling towards freefall before Jonas’ final day heroics against West Ham.

16. Au revoir à l’énigme (2006)

IN

None

OUT

Laurent Robert (Free, Benfica)

Round up

The love affair between Laurent Robert and Newcastle United reached its denouement, with the set-piece maestro departing to Portugal without a fee being processed.

Issue 194 – 11 June 2005

The talented Frenchman had been pivotal in the Magpies’ rise to the Champions League, with a highlight reel of 32 wonderful goals for the club, although he would frustrate as often as delight.

No other business of note was conducted, with a frivolous summer of high-profile incomings having drained the coffers.

(You can follow the author (Dominic Kureen) on Twitter @WriteOnDom)

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