Not every winter buy turns out great, as the Magpies know…
That time of year is nearly upon us again, when clubs brave the cold waters of the January transfer market in a desperate bid to boost their squad.
However, not every January buy turns out to be a shrewd addition, as Newcastle United can testify to.
The Magpies have picked up their fair share of duds in the winter, and here we have assembled a list of five of the worst signings the Tyneside club have made in the mid-season window.
5) Amdy Faye (Portsmouth, 2005)
A similarly inauspicious signing arrived with Boumsong in January 2005 as another of Graeme Souness’ hugely underwhelming first signings at the club.
Amdy Faye joined from Portsmouth but despite featuring relatively regularly he failed to impress in midfield and was offloaded to Charlton in the summer of 2006.
4) Luuk De Jong (Borussia Moenchengladbach, 2014)
Now banging in the goals for PSV, De Jong joined Newcastle on loan from German side Moenchengladbach in 2014 as Alan Pardew looked to boost his firepower for the second half of the 2013-14 season.
It was not to go well, however, as De Jong failed to score in any of his 12 appearances for the club. The move was not made permanent and he left Gladbach to join PSV that summer. He has since scored 50 league goals in 81 starts for the Dutch giants.
3) Jean-Alain Boumsong (Rangers, 2005)
A classic as far as Newcastle fans are concerned, the Magpies paid £8 million to bring the France international to St. James’ Park, despite the defender having joined Rangers for free just six months earlier.
The defender actually did not do too badly in his first season, but his performances soon began to become error-strewn and uncertain, and he was eventually shipped off to then-Serie B side Juventus 18 months after his arrival on Tyneside.
2) Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, 2007)
A player whom Magpies fans have likely forgotten ever turned out in the black-and-white stripes, centre-back Onyewu joined the club on loan from Belgian side Standard Liege in January 2007.
The former USA international had starred for Standard, but was a dismal failure in England, lining up alongside Titus Bramble for a partnership to which the Benny Hill theme would have been a suitable soundtrack. He made only 11 appearances before being dropped and, surprise surprise, his loan was not made permanent in the summer.
1) Seydou Doumbia (Roma, 2016)
Brought in by Steve McClaren a year ago, Doumbia is one of the greatest failed signings of Newcastle’s recent history. The Ivorian striker had been banging in the goals in Russia for CSKA Moscow, but failed to make the impact desperately needed from him last season.
In fact, he failed to make any impact at all. Doumbia managed just three substitute appearances under McClaren and his successor Rafa Benitez, doing nothing to help the club’s unsuccessful fight against relegation. He is on loan at Swiss side Basel this season, where he is banging in the goals.
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