Ins
Mehdi Abeid (Lens) - Free
Yohan Cabaye (Lille) - £4.3m
Demba Ba (West Ham) - Free
Sylvain Marveaux (Stade Rennais) - Free
Gabriel Obertan (Manchester United) - £3.25m
Davide Santon (Inter Milan) - £5m
Rob Elliot (Charlton Athletic) - 100k
Major Outs
Sol Campbell - Released
Kevin Nolan - West Ham (£4m)
Wayne Routledge - Swansea City (£2m)
Jose Enrique - Liverpool (£6m)
Joey Barton - Queens Park Rangers (Free)
Looking at the fees involved in Newcastle's moves in the transfer window, the first thing that stands out is the number of free transfers. Newcastle have bought shrewdly in that respect, filling positions in the side without spending large amounts of money. While this is a positive from a fiscal standpoint, it has been the cause of much anger among fans that the promise made by Alan Pardew that all of £35m received for Andy Carroll would be re-invested in the team has not been kept. In fact when adding up the final figures, Newcastle have a net spend of around £0.25m, which is, in modern football, peanuts.
Despite this, it hasn't been the worst transfer window for the club. Critics will look to the controversial sales of Kevin Nolan, Jose Enrique and Joey Barton, but others will look to the acquisitions, particularly Yohan Cabaye who has delivered 2 composed performances after struggling slightly against Arsenal. Obertan and Marveaux add some much needed pace to a side that had a severe lack of it in the previous campaign.
Fans can also be happy with Jose Enrique's replacement, Davide Santon, the 20 year old who has won 7 international caps with Italy during his short career. Described by his former boss Jose Mourinho as 'phenomenal', Santon undoubtedly has exceptional talent, although a drop off in performance saw him loaned to Cesena last season. The Italian's versatility will also be an asset to Alan Pardew, as he has the ability to play on either side of defence, Santon is, in essence, the typical Mike Ashley signing, young and relatively cheap in today's market. However, he has the calibre and the potential to develop into a mainstay at left back for many years to come.
Still for Newcastle fans the major talking point has been the situation up front, and now that the window has shut, many fans will be extremely displeased at the club's inability to bring in another striker despite some last-ditch deadline day attempts. Pardew will now have to go with what he's got. Luckily for him, Leon Best looks like hitting form as he wrapped up all 3 points last weekend with 2 goals against Fulham. Demba Ba has been largely poor in the opening games but was also much improved against the Cottagers, setting up Best's second goal.
The worry for the fans will be the lack of depth below Ba and Best. Shola Ameobi is a somewhat effective target man, while Peter Lovenkrands is aging and truthfully isn't good enough to be a regular starter in the Premier League. Below that Nile Ranger looks to have blown his chance after being arrested for assault, so the young bright hope is Shola Ameobi's younger brother Sammy who scored a magnificent winner in the Carling Cup tie at Scunthorpe. For many Newcastle fans though, the great hope will be the return, again, of Hatem Ben Arfa, who is due to return to full training on September 10th and has been pencilled in by Pardew for a return against Wolves on October 1st, expected to supply many of Newcastle goals in his role in behind the main striker, Frenchman Ben Arfa will return with a weight of expectation placed on his shoulders.
Verdict: Newcastle have let 3 big stars go this window, but have replaced them with clever buys with a view to building a young, pacy side. However, the lack of depth of front will have many wondering where the goals are going to come from.
Transfer Window rating: 7/10
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