This new era of spending is not the first time the club have splashed the cash in modern history, though, as they did break their transfer record to sign Michael Owen from Real Madrid back in the summer of 2005.
They signed him for more than they bought Alan Shearer for in 1996 when the legendary striker arrived for a world-record £15m from Blackburn Rovers, and messed up badly as Owen flopped at St. James’ Park.
Alan Shearer’s Newcastle stats
The club smashed the world record when they signed him from Ewood Park in 1996 and he proved himself to be a value-for-money signing with an exceptional goal record with his boyhood side.
Shearer, who won the Premier League with Blackburn, racked up a staggering 206 goals and 58 assists in 405 appearances for the Magpies in all competitions.
That record included a return of 148 goals and 30 assists in 303 top-flight matches for Newcastle, with four 20+ goal seasons in the division in total for the club.
How much Newcastle paid for Michael Owen
Unfortunately, Owen did not live up to the hype that his transfer fee created after Newcastle splashed out a staggering £17m club-record fee in the summer of 2005 to sign him from Real Madrid – £2m more than they paid for Shearer.
He was also on a reported wage of £105k-per-week across his four years on Tyneside, which worked out at around £21.8m in wages over the course of his contract. This meant that the deal to sign the centre-forward was worth around £38.8m in total.
The Sunday Mirror’s Brian McNally once described Owen as an “embarrassing flop” for the Magpies and his return of 30 goals in four years for £38.8m – without adjusting for current inflation – suggests that his comment was not all that harsh.
| Michael Owen at Newcastle |
| Premier League |
Appearances |
Goals |
| 2005/06 |
11 |
7 |
| 2006/07 |
3 |
0 |
| 2007/08 |
29 |
11 |
| 2008/09 |
28 |
8 |
| Stats via Transfermarkt |
The former Liverpool star never scored morethan 11 Premier League goals in one season for the Magpies, compared to Shearer’s four 20+ goal campaigns, and only made 14 league appearances across his first two years at the club due to injury.
He missed 96 competitive games through injury in his four years at St. James’ Park, compared to just 79 outings on the pitch in all competitions.
His career on Tyneside ended in the summer of 2009 as his £105k-per-week contract expired, and he left on a free transfer, to join Manchester United, which meant that the club earned £0 back on the money they spent on him.
These statistics suggest that Newcastle messed up with the signing of the Real Madrid centre-forward as they smashed their transfer record to sign him, and he spent more time on the treatment table than he did on the pitch, whilst costing the Magpies a huge sum of money in the process.
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