Alexander Isak (£10.5m) may not want to have anything to do with Newcastle United anymore – but what about Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers?
Cutting through the bleak mood engendered by their wantaway Swede, we assess whether the Magpies are still going to offer us Fantasy points potential in 2025/26.
This is part of our series of team previews in which we profile every Premier League club.
From best picks and defensive contributions (DC) magnets to fixture analysis and an early predicted XI, our latest offering to Members focuses on Eddie Howe’s troops.
NEWCASTLE: REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
TOP-FIVE FINISH, TOP-FIVE NUMBERS
While you’d question whether Nottingham Forest can mount a top-five challenge as serious as last season’s (they were 15th for Statsbomb xG!), Newcastle’s underlying numbers were more in keeping with a side in the mix for Champions League qualification.
Only the top three scored more than the Magpies’ 68 goals, too.
They’ve hit at least that total – as well as reaching double figures for clean sheets – in each of the last three seasons, so they’re no flash in the pan.
HOWE’S MAGIC TOUCH
Call it supporter bias but Newcastle really do have one of the better managers, certainly from a coaching perspective, in the league.
Plenty mocked the money spent on Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) before he signed, and look at the progress he made in 2023/24. Joelinton (£6.0m) has gone from laughing stock to lauded midfielder, Fabian Schar (£5.5m) from outcast under Steve Bruce to ball-playing centre-half.
This list goes on.
2024/25 was Jacob Murphy‘s (£6.5m) year, a best-ever campaign for attacking returns (21) after establishing himself on the right wing. This was a player surplus to requirements and loaned out to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday by Bruce.
The second season under Howe, as it was with Gordon, is often the breakout year. The integrations and method-learning take time. We’ve seen it again last season with Sandro Tonali (£5.5m), Tino Livramento (£5.0m) and Lewis Hall (£5.5m), all of whom had questions asked of them early on in their careers on Tyneside but who have delivered outstanding 2024/25 campaigns.
Many are questioning the fees paid for Anthony Elanga (£7.0m), Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) and, seemingly incoming, Jacob Ramsey (£5.5m). The sceptics did the same for Tonali and Gordon.
Howe has made virtually every single member of his squad a better player, and who would bet against him doing the same with the latest arrivals – in time.
NEWCASTLE: REASONS TO BE FEARFUL
ISAK-GATE CASTING A SHADOW
