It has been a relentless first half of the season for Newcastle United, with so many of Eddie Howe’s players delivering on the grandest stage.
While Newcastle might be out of the Champions League, they held their own in Europe’s elite competition. They are also still going strongly in the Premier League, despite an injury crisis threatening to derail the Magpies’ season.
Given the amount of games, the calibre of opponents and the amount of injuries, it has to be considered a decent start to the 2023/24 campaign for Eddie Howe‘s side.
There have been many impressive performers in black and white, but one man stands out as the club’s player of the season so far.
Newcastle United’s honourable mentions
The likes of Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier have both been exceptional and deserve to be in the conversation, while Alexander Isak would be up there too if he had not missed so many games due to injury.
Anthony Gordon also has to be a contender. He has been the Magpies’ difference maker in attack, and looks transformed by Howe.
He has been clinical in the final third, boasting six goals and six assists in all competitions, hitting double figures for goal contributions already.
Gordon’s work off the ball has also been incredible, but he still is not the man who we believe has been Newcastle United’s player of the season so far.
Bruno Guimaraes is Newcastle United’s player of the season so far
That honour goes to Bruno Guimaraes.
While Gordon has been exceptional, we would not be where we are without Bruno.
The 26-year-old is the Magpies’ talisman. There is no one in this squad who can do what he does. As Howe says, the Brazilian is ‘unique’.
We are a completely different team without him. He has only missed one game so far this season, and unsurprisingly it was one of our worst performances of the campaign – the 2-0 away loss to Bournemouth.
While he started the season slowly, Bruno is now operating at an elite level. He has been breathtakingly brilliant in the middle of the park, but he is so consistently excellent that no one really bats an eyelid.
He is controlling games, pulling the strings with his energy and ability on the ball. We have seen his mean streak too, with Bruno boasting the combative qualities that make him perfect for the ‘number six’ role.
Bruno signed a new contract with Newcastle earlier this year, and it includes a release clause that could be worth up to £115million. If a team were to activate it, they would be getting value for money, as he currently looks worth that and more based on his current form.
But right now we are the ones who have got Bruno in the middle, and let’s hope he stays there for a long, long time. He is without a doubt our best player this season so far – everyone else is just playing for second.
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