da dobrowin： Last season, the glory days well and truly returned to Newcastle United as Eddie Howe provided Tyneside with its most enthralling campaign of the last two decades.
da pinnacle： Ending their 20-year absence from the Champions League with a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, the Magpies have surpassed all expectations since PIF completed their takeover of the club.
While the affluent transformation was supposed to have a positive impact on the club, few would have envisaged such a meteoric rise having been dragged from the pits of a relegation battle to competing with Europe's elite and challenging for silverware.
The foundations of this success were laid down by the strength and resilience of their backline, orchestrated by Howe's astute tactical understanding and organization as Newcastle finished the term with the league's joint-meanest defence alongside Manchester City.
As the saying goes in football, the importance of building from the back should never be underestimated and Howe's side have used that solid defensive base to express themselves in the final third with the likes of Anthony Gordon, Callum Wilson, and Miguel Almiron running riot on opposition defences.
When in full flow, the Toon are extremely difficult to stop and this is emphasized by how they are capable of rolling teams over with ease, dealing thrashings to Aston Villa, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, and even Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League this term.
At the time of writing (23/10/2023), Howe's troops are top of the Premier League's scoring charts with 24 goals in nine matches, however, there is one former Newcastle ace, Aleksandar Mitrovic, who would have bolstered their scoring exploits even further.
How much did Newcastle spend on Aleksandar Mitrovic?
In 2015, Newcastle completed the £13m acquisition of the Serbian marksman from Belgian side Anderlecht to bolster their attacking options.
The lethal finisher, who was aged 20 at the time, was part of an exciting summer that also saw Gini Wijnaldum and Chancel Mbemba acquired.
Despite his tender age, the Serbian arrived with tremendous pedigree having netted an impressive 28 goals in 51 appearances for Anderlecht in the season prior, including strikes against Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal in the Champions League group stages.
How did Aleksandar Mitrovic perform for Newcastle United?
Upon his arrival, Mitrovic set his sights high and aimed to emulate one of the all-time greats in the black and white jersey.
He once said: "Alan Shearer is a hero of mine. I hope I can play like him for this club. It will be an honour."
Unfortunately, the 6 foot 2 finisher did not come close to eclipsing the almost untouchable legacy that Shearer crafted at St James Park.
He did score nine and supply four assists in his debut campaign in the Premier League, but those contributions were in vain as Newcastle spiralled toward the jaws of relegation.
Stepping up to the plate unlike his senior compatriots, Mitrovic was one of few stand-out performances for the Magpies in that season, however, he was unable to carry that momentum across to the Championship.
The signing of Dwight Gayle in the summer of 2016 saw his game time dramatically decrease and while the former would fire in 23 goals to help the North East giants bounce straight back into the Premier League, the Serbian powerhouse would only muster four goals in 25 appearances.
Indeed, having fallen down the pecking order under Rafael Benitez, Mitrovic would only feature a further six times in the top flight, and despite his potential, it was no surprise to Fulham pounce at the opportunity to sign him on loan in January 2018 before sealing a permanent £22m switch to Craven Cottage in the following summer.
How good is Aleksandar Mitrovic now?
Since departing St James Park, Mitrovic has made Newcastle rue the mistake of selling him by growing into one of England's most lethal finishers in recent times, smashing a whole host of records in the Championship and wreaking havoc on Premier League defences.
In the 2021/22 season, the 85-cap Serbia international became the highest-scoring player in a single Championship season as a monstrous total of 43 goals saw him break the all-time record and help Fulham bounce straight back into the top flight.
Described by former boss Marco Silva as "unbelievable" for those sensational goal-scoring exploits, Mitrovic is the prototypical number nine, an old-fashioned, physically imposing striker who is capable of holding the ball up with his back to goal and getting into goal-scoring areas.
Following their promotion in 2022, Mitrovic became unstoppable in all areas of his game, attacking space like a demon, receiving the ball in various areas, linking up with teammates, and aggressively pressing the opposition’s build-up phase.
Having combined those attributes with his fearsome strength, power and incisive finishing, he proved those who claimed he was not good enough for the top flight by posting an impressive 14 goals in 24 appearances while ranking in the top 6% for aerials won, top 9% for touches in the attacking box, top 9% for goals and top 6% total shots per 90, as per FBref.
To put his sensational scoring exploits into perspective, the 129 goals that Mitrovic has scored since leaving Newcastle is more than the 68 that Callum Wilson has managed.
Lauded as a "sensation" by former Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic, the 29-year-old ace has continued satiating his hunger for goals in Saudi Arabia after completing a £50m switch to Al-Hilal this summer and has so far chalked up eight goals in 10 appearances.
Wilson, meanwhile, continues to be Newcastle's talismanic figure.
How many goals has Callum Wilson scored for Newcastle?
Once he hangs up his boots, Wilson will go down as one of the greatest strikers to grace the St James' Park turf.
The 31-year-old is tied in third place in Newcastle's all-time scoring charts in the Premier League with 43 and is closing in on Peter Beardsley's record of 47, however, there is an acceptance that he is never going to come close to eclipsing the 147 top flight goals that Shearer amassed for the club.
Indeed, it seems remarkable that Mitrovic has outscored Wilson in recent years and perhaps that is a testament to the high level of talent that the club originally unearthed from Belgian shores.