Newcastle Have Been Overtaken by a Star Worth Less Than Longstaff

Newcastle United invested heavily in their squad last summer to build on the club’s success in qualifying for the Champions League in the 2022/23 season.

The Magpies finished fourth in the Premier League and automatically qualified for the group stage of the current season. The club invested over £125 million in new players to improve the squad and add depth to Eddie Howe’s side.

Players such as Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali both arrived at St James’ Park, with the latter making no impact on the team after receiving a ten-month ban for breaching gambling rules during his time at AC Milan.

However, the club – supported by the Saudi PIF – also paid a large transfer fee for another player during the same period in the expectation that he could complete Isak Howe’s attack alongside Anthony Gordon and Alexander.

Almost a year after arriving on Tyneside, the striker has struggled to maintain his fitness, leading to a decline in his market value.

Harvey Barnes’ stats in 2023/24

After joining the club from relegated Leicester City for a reported £38 million, winger Harvey Barnes had great potential to be Howe’s missing piece in his attacking puzzle, but he has yet to consistently prove it.

The 26-year-old has managed just four goals and three assists in 19 games across all competitions this season, in a year that has been plagued by injury setbacks.

Barnes has missed 31 games across all competitions since moving to Tyneside, preventing the attacker from making a big impact in his first 12 months at the club – with the former Leicester man unable to put together any sort of consistent performance under Howe deliver.

This season alone, the longest he has spent in the team without injury is six games, a disappointing tally given the high fee the club paid for his signing last summer.

He showed his qualities in certain games, including in the impressive 4-3 comeback win against West Ham United at the end of March, where he scored two goals off the bench.

But unfortunately for Magpies fans, they have failed to see his talent on a regular basis as the attacker’s market value has dropped significantly due to his frequent injury absences.

Harvey Barnes market value in 2024

Less than a year after joining the Magpies, Barnes now has a market value of just £12.8m, according to Football Observatory, a value that is £13m less than his teammate and academy graduate Sean Longstaff, who is currently worth of 25 million pounds – after that it costs the club nothing.

Although the winger’s value may seem high given his injury problems, the club has been put at a disadvantage by the deal with the Foxes as the attacker has yet to detail why the club decided to spend such a high transfer fee on him.

He is undoubtedly a talented player who has the ability to be a real nuisance in the attacking third – he scored 77 goals and assisted in 187 games for his former employers. However, to be successful at St James’ Park he will need to become more reliable with his fitness.

With the 2023/24 season coming to an end, the club needs to ensure that it can rely on Barnes next season to prevent the club from investing more money in another striker – which is a risk for them given the recent FFP Worrying may be difficult.