Newcastle United have progressed a great deal over the course of the last 18 months under current boss Eddie Howe, with the club reaching the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
The Magpies were taken over by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2021, with their huge investment allowing the club to go from relegation candidates to consistent European challengers.
However, this season, the club have struggled during spells, with the squad often hampered by multiple first-team members struggling with injuries and fitness for long periods.
The board’s investment has seen multiple fan favourites depart St James’ Park, including Jonjo Shelvey, who was a real mainstay in the Magpies side during years of discontent towards former owner Mike Ashley.
The club also parted ways with another player who enjoyed success at St James’ Park, but became a victim of the club’s success, with the club making a brilliant decision not to renew his deal last year.
Ciaran Clark’s stats at Newcastle
After arriving at the club for £5m from Aston Villa back in 2016, centre-back Ciaran Clark rapidly became an important figure within the Newcastle side, making 34 appearances and scoring twice in his debut campaign at St James’ Park.
The Irishman would go on to feature 31 times over the next two Premier League seasons, scoring on five occasions – a brilliant record for a centre-half.
Clark’s stats at Newcastle United |
||
---|---|---|
Season |
Games |
Goals |
2016/17 |
34 |
2 |
2017/18 |
20 |
2 |
2018/19 |
11 |
3 |
2019/20 |
14 |
2 |
2020/21 |
22 |
1 |
2021/22 |
13 |
0 |
Stats via Transfermarkt |
He would only go on to manage over 20 appearances in one of his last three full seasons with the Magpies, with his highest tally coming in the 2020/21 campaign, where the defender made 22 appearances – in a season where the club narrowly avoided relegation back to the Championship.
Given the additions such as Dan Burn and Sven Botman after the takeover, Howe decided to loan Clark out to Sheffield United for the 2022/23 season – a year that was the final one of his current deal on Tyneside, with the experienced player leaving the club to join Stoke City.
The Magpies conducted brilliant business by offloading the 34-year-old, with the former Villa man only able to make three starts for the Potters during the current campaign, with Howe’s side doing a magnificent job of clearing his wages off the books.
Ciaran Clark’s wage at Newcastle
During his six full campaigns at the club, Clark pocketed £13.7m in wages alone, taking the Magpies’ total spend on the defender to £18.7m when combining the figure with his transfer fee.
Earning £42k-per-week during the final few years of his time with the Toon, he was amazingly earning more than the likes of Jacob Murphy (£35k) and wonderkid Lewis Miley (£5k).
Although he was a fantastic addition at the time for Newcastle, the club’s unexpected transition from relegation contenders to European hopefuls saw him fall rapidly down the pecking order – with the Irishman unlucky to lose his position.
However, football is a ruthless industry, with his huge wages going a long way in Newcastle’s attempts to avoid any FFP punishments in the near future given their huge spending of over £400m since the Saudi takeover a few years ago.
Related
Freedman could strike gold by immediately axing £110k-p/w Newcastle trio
He’s been linked with replacing Dan Ashworth at St James’ Park this summer.