Newcastle's worst ever signings
Which have been Newcastle's most regrettable transfer moves?
For all the great signings that Newcastle have made over the years, they've also made some pretty bad ones.
From the unequivocal flops to the plain unlucky, the Magpies have experienced their fair share of transfer regret.
Here, we run through the worst signings in Newcastle's history.
34. Stephen Ireland
On deadline day of the January 2011 transfer window, Stephen Ireland joined Newcastle on loan from Aston Villa for the remainder of the 2011/12 season – a strange move.
Why strange? Because the midfielder was already injured – and would be so until April, when he finally made his debut. He would make just one further appearance for the Magpies, featuring for... 49 minutes in total.
33. John Burridge
John Burridge had been Newcastle's Player of the Year in the 1990/91 season – but the veteran goalkeeper didn't play for the Magpies in either of his two subsequent spells at St. James' Park – by which time he was comfortably into his 40s.
Burridge – who had made his professional debut way back in 1969 – did later feature in the Premier League for Manchester City, though, at the ripe old age of 43 years and 162 days.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
32. Brian Pinas
Picked up by Newcastle from Feyenoord's youth team in 1997, Brian Pinas had a pretty torrid time of things in England – returning Feyenoord 12 months later.
The Dutch winger never made a first-team appearance for Newcastle – but that didn't save him from a plethora of jokes about his name, with The Sun suggesting that "the first time a referee takes his [Pinas'] name, he'll get sent off for using foul language".
31. Mark Stimson
It took Mark Stimson a while to nail down a regular first-team spot at Newcastle, following his his £200,000 move from Tottenham in 1989.
Upon Kevin Keegan's appointment in 1992, however, the defender lost his place in the side and ended up being loaned out to Portsmouth – ultimately joining the South Coast club permanently in 1993.
30. Seydou Doumbia
Seydou Doumbia's February 2016 loan switch from CSKA Moscow to Newcastle screamed 'panic signing' – and the Ivorian striker certainly didn't have any meaningful impact at St. James' Park.
In fact, he featured just three times for Steve McClaren's Magpies – who were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season, despite replacing McClaren with Rafael Benitez (who didn't use Doumbia at all).
29. Christian Bassedas
An Argentina international upon his arrival at Newcastle from Velez Sarsfield in 2000, £3.5m signing Christian Bassedas never played for his country again – and that's probably at least partly because he barely ever played for his new club.
The midfielder made just 35 Magpies appearances in all competitions – spending the second half of the 2001/02 season out on loan at Tenerife – and returned to his homeland with Newell's Old Boys in 2003.
28. John Karelse
Dutch goalkeeper John Karelse joined Newcastle for almost £1m from NAC Breda in 1999 – only to find himself as fourth choice behind Shay Given, Steve Harper and Tony Caig.
Somewhat miraculously, Karelse still made a handful of appearances for the Magpies – but his signing could hardly have been said to constitute value for money, and he left in 2003.
27. Hugo Viana
Newcastle fans had high hopes for Portuguese prodigy Hugo Viana after his arrival from Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2002 – but he did not live up to them.
A member of Portugal's 2002 World Cup squad, Viana – a client of Jorge Mendes, who would rise to prominence as a 'super-agent' over the next two decades – struggled to make an impact on the Premier League, eventually being loaned back to Sporting before leaving permanently for Valencia.
26. Shefki Kuqi
A curious signing considering he had been just had his contract terminated by second-tier Swansea City after failing to break into their team, Shefki Kuqi joined Newcastle as a free agent in February 2011.
The Finland international had enjoyed a reasonable goalscoring record for Ipswich Town – but that was also in the second tier, and he left Newcastle after failing to find the net in six outings.
25. Carl Cort
Carl Cort looked a very promising acquisition when he joined Bobby Robson's Newcastle for £7m from Wimbledon in the summer of 2000 – with the Magpies beating Tottenham and Leicester City to secure the striker's services.
Injuries laid waste to Cort's time at St. James' Park, however, and he was sold to Wolves in January 2004 – having managed to make only 28 appearances for Newcastle.
24. Lionel Perez
First-choice goalkeeper at Sunderland, Lionel Perez caused quite a stir when he crossed the Tyne-Wear divide to join Newcastle in the summer of 1998.
It was an especially curious move considering he would have to had to beat off three 'keepers to claim the number one spot at St. James' Park – which he failed to do, leaving twice on loan before dropping all the way down to the third tier to join Cambridge United on a permanent basis in July 2000.
23. Curtis Good
There can't be many players who left a club and returned to find they had changed their name in the meantime – but that's exactly what happened to Curtis Good, who joined Newcastle from Melbourne Heart in 2012.
By the time the centre-back returned in 2018 – having played twice for Newcastle, as many times as he featured for Australia in the same period – Heart had become Melbourne City.
22. Fumaca
Another loan flop, Fumaca stood out as he joined Newcastle in 1999 from Catuense – who were playing in the Brazilian second tier at the time.
By then, the midfielder had already had six loan spells away from his parent club – including four in England, at Birmingham City, Colchester United, Barnsley and Crystal Palace – and he would have two more after making only a handful of appearances for Newcastle.
21. Siem de Jong
When you sign an Ajax academy product in their 20s, it's not unreasonable to think you're getting a pretty good player. With Siem de Jong, Newcastle found that not to be the case.
The attacking midfielder had previously won six caps for the Netherlands and was made vice-captain by Magpies boss Alan Pardew – only to underwhelm spectacularly as he failed to live up to his reported £6m price tag.
20. Dave Beasant
Dave Beasant left Wimbledon for Newcastle having starred in the Dons' historic 1988 FA Cup final victory over Liverpool – but the legendary goalkeeper was never able to hit the same heights for his new club.
By no means a cheap signing at £850,000, Beasant featured 20 times for the Magpies during an unremarkable single-season stay at St. James' Park – which culminated in relegation from the First Division.
19. Mike Hooper
Yet another goalkeeper who endured a disappointing stint at Newcastle in the 90s, Mike Hooper joined the Magpies in 1993 having been unable to dislodge Bruce Grobelaar between the sticks at Liverpool.
But he found Pavel Srnicek in the way at Newcastle – who had just been promoted to the Premier League – and he was loaned out to Sunderland the season after his arrival, although he failed to make a single appearance for the Magpies' Wearside adversaries.
18. Silvio Maric
Silvio Maric's feeble miss against Manchester United in the 1999 FA Cup final summed up the Croatian midfielder's short and forgettable Newcastle career.
Signed from Dinamo Zagreb in February 1999, Maric would leave depart St. James' Park for Porto the following year after failing to establish himself for the Magpies under two managers: caretaker Steve Clarke then Bobby Robson.
17. Billy Whitehurst
Billy Whitehurst has been cited as the hardest player ever to play the game – by Vinnie Jones, no less – but he's also regarded by Newcastle fans as one of the worst strikers the club have ever had.
The Magpies' record signing at the time of his arrival from Hull City in 1985, Whitehurst never really got going at Newcastle and moved on to Oxford United in 1986 – before returning to the North East with Sunderland in 1988.
16. Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell ended his career at Newcastle, but the Arsenal legend hardly went out on a high: he played just eight times in his sole season with the Magpies, hanging up his boots in the summer of 2011.
Campbell did wear the captain's armband on one occasion during his unsuccessful stint at St. James' Park, but he was sidelined by viruses for a large part of his time in the North East.
15. Yoshinori Muto
Yoshinori Muto had looked promising enough for Bundesliga side Mainz – but that promise did not translate to the Premier League with Newcastle whatsoever.
The Japan striker managed one goal in 25 league outings for the Magpies – and two goals in 28 appearances in all competitions – failing to justify Newcastle's £9.5m.
Loaned out to Spanish outfit Eibar in 2020, Muto returned to Japan in 2021 when he joined Vissel Kobe in a permanent deal.
14. Joselu
Joselu went on to play for Real Madrid and Spain in his early 30s – something no Newcastle fan who watched him during his barren spell at St. James' Park would ever have envisaged.
The striker – who had also flopped at Stoke City, who sold him to Newcastle in 2017 – scored just six goals in 46 Premier League appearances for the Magpies, who he left in 2019.
But he revived his career at Deportivo Alaves and Espanyol and was a full Spain international by 2023. Funny old game etc.
13. Damien Duff
Damien Duff hadn't been an overwhelming success at Chelsea, but the iconic Irish winger was still only 27 when he arrived at Newcastle for £5m in the summer of 2006.
But ask any member of the Toon Army about Duff time in the North East and they're unlikely to speak highly of him – and scoring the (admittedly unfortunate) own goal which sent Newcastle down in 2009 hardly counts in his favour.
12. Marcelino
Signed for £5.8m from Real Mallorca in the summer of 1999, big things were expected of Spanish centre-back Marcelino at Newcastle. They did not come...
Marcelino's spell on Tyneside proved to be little short of disastrous: he made just 17 Premier League appearances in four years – spending the last two outside the first-team picture – during which time he suffered all manner of injuries, including a snapped finger tendon that sidelined him for two months.
11. Emmanuel Riviere
The fact that Emmanuel Riviere made only 26 Premier League appearances in two seasons before being loaned out to Osasuna gives you a pretty good idea of how he fared at Newcastle.
Signed in July 2014 off the back of a promising season in Ligue 1 with Monaco, the French striker managed a meagre three goals in all competitions for Newcastle and left for Metz in August 2017.
10. Florian Thauvin
Newcastle have had some rotten luck with French signings in the Premier League era, and Florian Thauvin was one of the worst in that category.
The forward joined the Magpies from Marseille in the summer of 2015 for a reported £15m – but, like so many acquisitions during Mike Ashley's ownership of the club, he spectacularly flattered to deceive, returning to Marseille on loan the following January and never playing for Newcastle again.
Somehow, Thauvin went on to pick up a World Cup winners medal with France in 2018.
9. Remy Cabella
Fellow Frenchman Remy Cabella had left Newcastle on loan for Marseille only a matter of months earlier – after his own sub-par spell as a Magpies player.
A Ligue 1 title winner with underdogs Montpellier in 2011/12, the attacking midfielder didn't really bring anything to the table at Newcastle – and handing him a six-year contract proved to be a big mistake, as did the reported £8m transfer fee.
8. Albert Luque
Signed for £9m in the summer of 2005 off the back of some impressive form for La Liga outfit Deportivo La Coruna, Albert Luque did anything but impress during his time in a Newcastle shirt.
A record of one goal in 21 Premier League appearances spoke for itself, and the forward was move on to Ajax in the summer of 2007 – just two years into the five-year deal he had penned at St. James' Park.
7. Jean-Alain Boumsong
Another French flop, Jean-Alain Boumsong made a solid start to life at Newcastle after arriving from Rangers in January 2005 for £8m – just a matter of months after he had been available as a free agent.
The centre-half's form rather went off a cliff in his second season at St. James' Park, though, and he was sold to recently relegated Juventus in 2008 for less than half the fee Newcastle had paid for him.
6. Henri Saivet
Senegal midfielder Henri Saivet made 76 appearances during his time as a Newcastle player – for other clubs on loan...
Signed from Bordeaux in January 2016 for a reported £5m, Saivet played one Premier League game for each £1m Newcastle spent on him.
Value for money he was not, and – three loan spells later – he left the Magpies as a free agent at the end of the 2020/21 season.
5. Xisco
Another player who saw considerably more football out on loan from Newcastle than he did for them, the Toon Army recall Xisco as one of the club's biggest disappointments of the modern era.
Signed from Deportivo La Coruna for a reported £5.7m in the summer of 2008, the Spanish striker proved so hapless that Newcastle tried to sell him after just four months – only to be blocked by FIFA rules preventing a player registering for three clubs in one season.
They eventually got him off their books for good when they terminated his contract in January 2013.
4. Andreas Andersson
Swedish striker Andreas Andersson's Newcastle career was short – and short on goals: he managed just four of them in 27 Premier League appearances, having joined the Magpies from AC Milan in January 1998.
Andersson came off the bench in the 1998 FA Cup final – which Newcastle lost to Arsenal – but that was probably the closest he got to a highlight during his brief stay in England.
3. Stephane Guivarc'h
Stephane Guivarc'h had just won the 1998 World Cup with France – he even started the final as Les Bleus famously beat Brazil in Paris – so he had to be pretty good, right?
As it turned out, for Newcastle, nope! Guivarc'h scored on his debut against Liverpool, but he made just four Premier League appearances before being solid to Rangers – a mere five months after joining the Magpies from Auxerre as a strike partner for Alan Shearer.
2. Titus Bramble
A regular inclusion on lists of the worst defenders ever to play in the Premier League, Titus Bramble gained a certain notoriety for his unreliability in five years at Newcastle.
Signed for £6m from Ipswich Town in the summer of 2002, Bramble won 10 caps for England at U21 level – but those formative years were arguably the peak of his career, and he later irked Newcastle fans some more by joining arch-rivals Sunderland.
1. Michael Owen
At £16.8m from Real Madrid in August 2005, Michael Owen did not come cheap. In fact, Newcastle broke their club transfer record to sign the England striker – who was also attracting attention from former club Liverpool, as well as Everton.
In the end, Newcastle won the race to sign Owen – and the clubs who missed out probably breathed a big sigh of relief: the two-time Golden Boot winner averaged a mere 6.5 Premier League goals per season in his four years at St. James' Park.
He later admitted that he regretted making the move, describing it as "a downward step".
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
