How This Premier League Team Have WASTED Their Star Player's Sale Money

How This Premier League Team Have WASTED Their Star Player's Sale Money

The previous summer transfer window brought us one of the most infamous transfer sagas of the Premier League era with Alexander Isak burning bridges with the club he just became a hero for by bringing Newcastle their 56 year long trophy drought.

For months the question of 'will he or won't he' was on everyone's minds as the Swedish international began refusing to train and taking to social media to share the 'lies' that the club had sold him regarding his previous contract extension and his eligibility to leave the club when he desired.

It was the story of the summer as rumours spread of Premier League champions Liverpool worked to pry him from the grip of the North Eastern side. Eventually they did and the deal was confirmed to have gone through on deadline day for a British record sale of £125m.

As of now the Swede's move to Merseyside has far from played out as expected. The forward has only recorded 1 assist in 4 Premier League appearances at his new club, and frankly he's being outshone by fellow summer arrival Hugo Ekitike. It's only early days admittedly but he's far from matching the understandably high expectations placed on him.

📸 - ALEXANDER ISAK HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF AFTER A HORRIBLE PERFORMANCE! pic.twitter.com/RRLkL2DAo4

— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) October 19, 2025

On the other side of the sale however is former club Newcastle who received said record sale fee. So far in, and it cannot be stated enough, MY opinion the money has been very poorly reinvested by the reigning Carabao Cup champions. I'm going to expand on this to show why and how the money was spent so badly but first a little tangent.

This will be a quick history lesson on the last club who received a British summer sale fee and their reinvestment story and the eery similarities between the two record sales.

A Very Spursy Summer:

I want everyone reading to cast their mind back to the summer of 2013 to another Premier League summer window when a certain Welshman had his own summer of questions around his leaving for a British record sale fee.

Of course I am referring to Gareth Bale and his eventual move to Real Madrid for £85.3m from Tottenham Hotspur. The move was very similar to that of Isak, admittedly with significantly less animosity but as mentioned they were very alike. Even down to the moves both being finalised on September 1st, told you there's a strange level of similarity.

One of the main stories that surrounded Bale's move was how Tottenham went on to spend the money they made, the replacements were given the moniker of 'The Magnificent 7' and it's fair to say for the most part they were anything but.

'The Magnificent 7':

To show who Spurs bought with their new funds and just how awfully it was spent I will list below the signings the club made with the Bale money. Some of the names are so forgettable most probably forgot they even made the move to North London.

1. Paulinho - Signed from Corinthians (£17m)
2. Christian Eriksen - Signed from Ajax (£11m)
3. Roberto Soldado - Signed from Valencia (£26m)
4. Nacer Chadli - Signed from FC Twente (£7m)
5. Etienne Capoue - Signed from Toulouse (£9.3m)
6. Vlad Chriches - Signed from Steau Bucharest (£8.5m)
7. Erik Lamela - Signed from AS Roma (£25.8m)

From the above names some credit is due, Christian Eriksen went down as one of Spurs' grestest ever signings and has etched his name into both Premier League and Tottenham history books.

But better not saying much for the rest of the names on the list.

Back to Newcastle:

So I admit that was in fact a massive tangent but I swear it has relevance, you see that Tottenham transfer window has become not only a meme but somewhat of a barometer when it comes to reinvestment as football. They unintentionally become a near perfect case study of what not to do when selling your star player.

How this links to Newcastle is through the question of are they slowly seeming to have followed the Spurs pattern of awful reinvestment. To show why I think they have in fact done just that I'll evaluate their previous summer incomings to showcase that some of the moves made frankly no sense.

Now I understand that we are still early in the season and there is every chance that I am proven wrong on near every single signing verdict however enough of a sample size has been presented and other influencing factors that it's fair game. It may be too soon to say whether it was Spurs level bad but we can definitely say that the Isak reinvestment was almost certainly bad.

Who Replaced Isak?

Nick Woltemade:

Games Played: 12 | Goals: 6 | Assists: 0 | Transfer Fee: £69m from VfB Stuttgart

Ok so admittedly my point isn't helped, that Newcastle have wasted the Isak money, by immediately providing an example of what looks to be a highly astute signing by the Geordies but please stick with me.

The German intermational was at the centre of an ongoing saga between Stuttgart and Bayern Munich over his potential signing for much of the summer. This was before the relatively surprising announcement that he was in fact heading to Tyneside to be the direct Isak replacement.

Many people questioned the fee and whether he was experienced enough to take over the reigns from one of Europe's most prolific strikers but he has done well to embed himself into both the Newcastle side and the hearts of his new fans.

In his debut game he featured against Wolves in which he put in a stellar performance scoring his maiden goal in black and white. The next few games showed promise but he was unable to find the net until the side took on league challengers Arsenal at St James' Park. His side may not have won this match thanks to a last minute Gabriel winner but Woltemade's performance showed he had the capability to lead the line.

The game against Arsenal appears to have set the striker on the path to finding his shooting boots scoring 4 in his last 7 across all competitions for the side, at current league projections he is on track to score 22 in the league alone.

🚨 Newcastle’s admin knew what he was doing with this post about their new signing Woltemade. 😅

When you see it. 👀 pic.twitter.com/44vswk1x8V

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) October 29, 2025

Of course take this with a pinch of salt it's far too early to say for sure whether this is a realistic target but if his first set of games at the club is anything to go by he certainly has the ability to achieve this if things fall in his favour.

Anthony Elanga:

Games Played: 15 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Transfer Fee: £55m from Nottingham Forest

Out with one Swede, in with another. Anthony Elanga joined the club following a fantastic season with former side Nottigham Forest in the summer window for a reported fee of £55m. His pace, athleticism, direct style of play and creativity on the wing were all touted for reasons for his signings with the aim of him displacing Jacob Murphy.

This is where the issue comes in for Elanga as recently he has been displaced from the side by the man he was supposed to replace. Murphy has seemingly showed a continuation of his form from last season and has slotted right back into his position on the right flank of Newcastle's attack.

Elanga was not brought in to this Newcastle side with a glaring expectation to be a goal contributions magnet, throughout his career this has never been his role in the side. Sure he pops up with them but anyone signing him for a pure expectation of output wildly incorrectly profiles him as a player.

Even if Newcastle had wrongly profiled him in the summer and had too high expectations as to what his goal contributions might be for the side, near everyone would agree they didn't expect it to be 0 after featuring in 15 games across all competitions.

On paper the signing of the Swedish winger made total sense; a direct style of play, massive transitional threat, ability to play either flank and ability to create for the main striker. This is almost exactly what Newcastle required from their winger signing heading into the summer window and in theory made Elanga a solid option.

The main issue is that the club spent £55m on him and currently he is being displaced from the starting lineup by the very man they spent so much to replace. It's still early days with plenty of time to turn it around however its tough to argue right now that maybe Elanga wasn't the best use of £55m.

Jacob Ramsey:

Games Played: 6 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Transfer Fee: £40m from Aston Villa

Another in league signing that is yet to blow away the Toon faithful is new midfield man Jacob Ramsey. He arrived in the summer as the long awaited number 10 signing that so many dans have been crying out for for years following a highly impressive season at Aston Villa.

One of the main issues with Ramsey is that he is yet to fully imprint himself in the Newcastle midfield rather there has been a status quo with Tonali, Bruno G and Joelinton all keeping their spots as the starting midfielders for the most part.

This is not to say Ramsey isn't seeing any gametime, he is. In the games that he has featured in however he hasn't really done anything of note. He's not looked hugely out of place by any means but for such a long awaited missing piece in the midfield fans would have expected glimmers of something by now. He's not shown a huge creative spark nor has he shown a knack for goal getting so ultimately what does he add to Newcastle's midfield if he keeps on the same track.

Ramsey can't dictate play in the way that Tonali can, he can't physically bully opposition players like Joelinton and he can't anchor a midfield in the way that Bruno G can. All of this would be fine if he showed promise in areas the other 3 didn't excel in such as attack minded play however he isn't doing that at all recently which is a shame considering the ability he displayed just months earlier when he called Villa Park home.

The move looks even more puzzling when you consider the club already has Joe Willock, who don't get me wrong was very much in need of upgrading but the upgrade should have come in the form of someone with a different profile not someone who is so stylistically similar.

Highlight package of Jacob Ramsey, unreal player but is he what we need right now? #NUFC pic.twitter.com/eLH4608a99

— Murph (@NUFCMurph) January 29, 2024

Last summers window saw a spate of number 10s move across and into the Premier League and in when you look in comparison it's starting to beg the question why didn't Newcastle go for one of them instead.

Malick Thiaw:

Games Played: 12 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Clean Sheets: 5 | Transfer Fee: £34.6m from AC Milan

Woltemade was not the only German import for Newcastle this summer as they also brought in AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw to provide some defensive cover. The Centre half has done that and more establishing himself as a starter in the past few games with a handful of fantastic performances.

Admittedly there is far less to say about the centre back than some of the other mentioned signings, he didn't come into the club under any specific scenario where he had a necessity to hit the ground running. He came in to provide an alternative in defence when the starting pair needed a rest and potentially displace one of them in the best case scenario. Safe to say he has achieved the best case scenario by making himself a starter in the past few weeks.

Only three players have contested 40+ duels in the Premier League this season and won 70% or more of them:

◉ 77.22% - Virgil van Dijk (61/79)
◉ 73.91% - Malick Thiaw (34/46)
◉ 71.83% - Nordi Mukiele (51/71)

The duel masters. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/cFFX0Rhj6B

— Squawka (@Squawka) November 3, 2025

So far this season he has been central to keeping 5 clean sheets and has put up some top tier defensive numbers. As of now he is averaging 1.3 tackles per game, 3.7 clearances per game and 4.0 ball recoveries per game in the Premier League alone.

As I mentioned before there's not much to say about Thiaw really, he's defintiely exceeding expectations and is hitting the exact mark of what Newcastle would have hoped for in their defensive signing. Overall, he's looking like a really good buy so he can be spared from the category of money wasted.

Yoane Wissa:

Games Played: 0 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Transfer fee: £55m from Brentford

When looking at all the transfers Newcastle have made this one may seemingly be the most confusing and the worst value for money out of the lot.

After the Isak saga it was clear Newcastle wanted someone to fill the huge void left by the Swedish international. The theory was targeting someone who had put up similar numbers in the league and could slot straight into leading the line, for this Congolese international Yoane Wissa made perfect sense.

What didn't make perfect sense or really any sense at all were the financials surrounding bringing the former Brentford man to the club and that's what makes his signing appear to be such a huge waste of money.

For context prior to signing Wissa was in the final year of his contract at Brentford with a clear desire to leave, he even pulled some of the tricks of Isak by refusing to train and doing everything in his power to move away from the West London side. This typically reduces the fee a selling club can charge drastically especially when coupled with the fact the player is in the final year of their contract and will be able to leave on a free at the end of it.

It's also important to note that being Congolese and it being the year 2025 Wissa will be heading for AFCON in the middle of the season, December 21st-January 18th to be specific. Naturally he may not be away for the whole of the tournament that is all very dependent on how well DR Congo perform but either way he will be away from Newcastle for at minimum a few weeks.

As you may have noticed in the data up above Wissa has so far played 0 games for his new side, this is because of injury. You can't say a transfer is bad solely because they've been injured, I mean it's the type of thing nobody can really predict assuming the medical went ok and there were no flashing warning signs. The fact he's been injured shouldn't and in this case won't be used as a stick to beat Wissa with but it's tied directly into other factors so will be used in the evaluation.

🎙️ Eddie Howe on Yoane Wissa return date:

🗣️ “He’s on the grass and working but he definitely won’t be involved on Sunday.
🗣️ “I’d say he’s not close to training with the group due to fitness. I’m not trying to be evasive but I don’t know when the moment will be when he’s back… pic.twitter.com/LvNLyiJ0oU

— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) October 31, 2025

So let's do a quick roundup of his signing. £55m for a man who is yet to make an appearance, will be unavailable during a crucial part of the season because of known international commitments and could have been brought in for quite literally nothing if the club waited just 1 year... Yeah you can't really call that value for money.

Overall Conclusions:

Disclaimer! The listed signings above were not the only ones brought to Tyneside over the summer but they were the only ones with fees of any significance. Just before people get mad I didn't speak about whether Antonito Cordero of Malaga is great value for money moving on a free.

All in all Newcastle have seemingly gone 2/5 out of their big money moves in the summer with only two of them really proving they made sense as signings. Eerily similar to that Tottenham window where only 2 signings went down as successes.

There's absolutely still time for all of their signings to prove to be good, I'm not that bad as to rule out redemption arcs but we have so far this season been provided with enough of a sample size to see that Newcastle could have spent the money a LOT better after their British record sale.

If you add up the total fees of the apparent poor signings; Ramsey, Elanga and Wissa we get a total of £150m spent on, so far, quite literally no return. This is exactly why I believe that Newcastle have wasted the money brought in from Isak. It cannot be stressed enough £150m to replace one of the best players to have ever put on the shirt and there is quite literally nothing to show for it... Astonishing really.

Maybe the surprising conclusion from all of the Toon's transfers are that when it comes to in league signings they have no luck or simply can't scout what they see week in week out very well.

Or maybe it's that Newcastle need to transform into 'Die Mannschaft' and keep buying German imports because apparently it's a winning formula.