To predict what lies in store for Newcastle United and their success-starved, passionate fans in seasons to come it is well worth revisiting Manchester City’s takeover in 2008 and recalling what soon followed.
If not a faithful precursor, there are certainly enough clues for the St James’ Park faithful to be extremely excited.
Though granted, it should be stated right from the off that the two projects have notable differences, not least the fact that Financial Fair Play exists today and didn’t back then.
This allowed City to embark on a flurry of transfer activity and accelerated spending back in the day, all designed to propel them into the elite at the earliest juncture.
Such heavy investment in personnel has been denied the newly-minted Magpies, even if £250m spent across three windows is hardly living on the breadline.
That aside, there is another small but perhaps pertinent deviation in that it took City just shy of three seasons to attain Champions League football following their transformative takeover.
Newcastle got there 12 months quicker, at odds with the football betting that had them pegged for top six at best.
If that suggests however that the North-East giants are on a sharper trajectory to becoming a major player in English football and beyond it’s worth remembering that investment in projects of this scale takes many forms, and in some Newcastle appear to be lagging.
Two years into City’s evolution, the Abu Dhabi United Group had already committed to constructing a vast youth development and training complex that on completion became known as the Etihad Campus.
State of the art in every conceivable way and costing £200m, the campus has been a cornerstone of the club’s growth, not only by bringing through the likes of Phil Foden into the first team but also producing a plethora of talented teens who have been sold on for pure profit.
Newcastle too have prioritised their academy but to date that has manifested in ‘only’ upgrading facilities, along with coaches and recruitment staff.
To defend the club in this regard – or more accurately, in defence of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Newcastle’s owners – their predecessor Mike Ashley willingly stripped the academy to its absolute basics.
This strongly hints that returning the club to having a functioning academy was always going to be a necessary, initial step.
Still, for the club to eventually become a behemoth; and for the club to be self-sustainable in the near-future, it is paramount they build from within. Rumours, therefore, that the owners are looking for suitable land in order to replicate City’s campus, bodes well.
On the pitch meanwhile, Newcastle’s securement of Champions League football ahead of schedule – courtesy of some excellent orchestration from Eddie Howe, a man previously considered a managerial placeholder – arguably places them at the same point in City’s journey as they were in 2011.
That season, not only did the Blues gain continental football but they additionally won the FA Cup, their first trophy for 35 years and though Newcastle couldn’t match that feat last term, they came awfully close to doing so.
In reaching their first domestic final for two decades – losing a touch meekly to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup – there is persuasive evidence that Newcastle might soon be well-acquainted with Wembley, and that silverware is imminent.
Of course, we all know what came next for Manchester City, winning the Premier League title in unforgettable fashion in 2012, via a last-gasp goal from a world-class finisher they signed for mega-bucks the previous summer.
This takes us back to FFP and how it hinders Newcastle’s spending. They are, on paper, the wealthiest football club on the planet, but have to budget just like everyone else.
Which unquestionably is a shame and unquestionably too means their progress will be more incremental.
They would simply love to sign the modern incarnation of Sergio Aguero, but they can’t. They would love to furnish Howe with the GDP of a small African nation to strengthen in the forthcoming window, but they cannot.
Instead it will be step by step, but always up, right to the top.
Being linked with Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella is a sign of where Newcastle are now at. They are a serious club, who are a serious proposition to the world’s elite by virtue of their immense potential and the Champions League football they can offer.
Players know when a club is going in the right direction. And they tend to gravitate towards that club.
As for trophies, they will surely come. Just like they did at City.
In the next decade, a league title feels as probable as regularly challenging feels inevitable. They will feature prominently in the Premier League betting for years to come.
Likely, Europe will prove to be a tough learning curve, with singular nights of glory leading to evenings of frustration, but who knows, Newcastle may ultimately get there. Their Istanbul could feasibly be shimmering in the far distance, a decade away from realisation.
As for their increased investment in youth development, who’s the say that the next global superstar doesn’t emerge from the North-East. Only today, reports have come out that the Magpies have signed two highly promising kids from the lower leagues.
This is an incredibly exciting time to be a Newcastle supporter, with incredibly exciting possibilities within reach. But the best is still the come. At this point, that feels assured.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
