Newcastle United’s success since the appointment of Eddie Howe is not solely down to money.
While PIF’s investment obviously helps and there is little point in pretending otherwise, Newcastle’s squad has come on leaps and bounds since Howe replaced Steve Bruce.
Indeed, the former Bournemouth manager has yielded vast improvements out of players he inherited, with Joelinton being perhaps the prime example.
Derided as a £40m flop following a poor first season at the club, his transformation as a central midfielder has been remarkable.
Still, he’s not the only player to have benefited from Howe’s arrival.
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Joelinton names the three players Eddie Howe has improved at Newcastle
Indeed, the Brazilian also picked out Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy as players Howe has improved.
Almiron enjoyed his best season to date last time out after scoring 11 Premier League goals, while Murphy established himself as a genuine first-team option for arguably the first time in his Newcastle career.
Speaking to ESPN Brazil, Joelinton said: “The position we are in today is mainly due to the arrival of Eddie. Many players arrived, but you see that most of the current team was here before. This shows how he managed to improve many players like Almiron, Murphy and myself.”
There are many more to mention too
While Joelinton makes a good case for those two, they are far from the only players to have improved under Howe’s watch.
Sean Longstaff, Fabian Schar and Joe Willock have thrived too, proving that Newcastle’s rapid-fire improvement is not solely down to the money spent on new players.
With young talents in Elliot Anderson and Lewis Miley emerging, that is reassuring.
Howe has a proven track record in nurturing talent, making the idea of those developing under him a seriously exciting prospect.