Newcastle United take on Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League on Wednesday, but how does their transfer spending compare with the Belgian side?
Eddie Howe will be aiming to put a heartbreaking weekend behind Newcastle United when his side takes to the field in Brussels.
Despite leading for much of the game through Nick Woltemade’s header, Newcastle slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the dying moments on Sunday.
A spirited display only to lose is exactly what happened in their opening Champions League bout with Barcelona, too, so Newcastle need to get their first points on the board.
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise are by no means pushovers, though, after their excellent start to the season, and here’s how Newcastle’s spending compares to theirs.
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Newcastle United and Union SG summer signings
Both clubs actually made seven signings each in the summer transfer window, but it won’t surprise anyone that Newcastle spent orders of magnitude more on their new recruits.
Here’s each signing the two clubs made this past summer.
| Newcastle United signings | Union SG signings |
| Anthony Elanga – Winger – Nottingham Forest – £53m (rising to £55m) | Raul Florucz – Striker – NK Olimpija – £4.36m |
| Aaron Ramsdale – Goalkeeper – Southampton – £4m (loan) | Adem Zorgane – Midfielder – R Charleroi SC – £3.75m |
| Park Seung-soo – Winger – Suwon Bluewings – Minimal | Louis Patris – Right-back – Sint-Truiden – £3.32m |
| Malick Thiaw – Centre-back – AC Milan – £30m (rising to £34m) | Kjell Scherpen – Goalkeeper – Brighton – £1.75m |
| Jacob Ramsey – Midfielder – Aston Villa – £39m (rising to £43m) | Rob Schoofs – Midfielder – KV Mechelen – £1.22m |
| Nick Woltemade – Striker – Stuttgart – £65m (rising to £69m) | Guilherme Smith – Winger – Kalju FC – £350,000 |
| Yoane Wissa – Striker – Brentford – £50m (rising to £55m) | Ivan Pavlic – Midfielder – Pacos Ferreira £220,000 |
| Total: £240m (rising to £260.4m) | Total: £14.97m |
Newcastle spent a startling 1607.28% more than the champions of Belgium, which should make Wednesday’s encounter a mismatch.
However, the game is not played on paper and Union SG are far better than their spending may suggest.
Sebastian Pocognoli’s side are undefeated after nine league games and sit on top of the table, having already picked up wins against rivals Anderlecht, Genk and Standard Liege.
Their form isn’t limited to domestic competition, either, as they hammered PSV Eindhoven 3-1 in their opening Champions League game.
Union SG may have only spent a pittance in the summer, after losing several of their best players to boot, but they remain a dangerous and talented side that could upset Newcastle.
Newcastle United record vs Belgian clubs
Newcastle have played Belgian opposition eight times in their European adventures in the past and hold a decent record against them.
Things didn’t get off to a great start, though, when they faced Anderlecht in the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970, after winning the trophy the year before.
The Magpies lost 2-0 in Brussels but stormed into a 3-0 lead at St. James’ Park, only to concede late to allow the visitors to advance on away goals.
Their tie with Royal Antwerp in 1994 was much simpler, as they won 5-0 away and 5-2 at home to cruise through to the next round.
13 years later came Zulte Waregem in the UEFA Cup last 16, with Newcastle again winning comfortably away, this time 3-1, but then 1-0 at home.
The last time the Magpies faced a Belgian side was in the Europa League campaign of 2012, in which they were drawn in the group stage with Club Brugge. They won 1-0 on the Tyne but were held to a 2-2 draw in Bruges.
Newcastle will be hoping to get back to winning ways on Wednesday.
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