Mike Ashley's final Newcastle United transfer finds new club after 'dream' St James' Park spell

Munoz spent a season and a half on loan at Newcastle United from Santos Laguna between 2021 and 2023 but he failed to make a competitive first team appearance.

Newcastle had the option to make Munoz’s loan permanent in January 2023 but opted against triggering a deal as he returned to Mexico.

Munoz’s only first-team appearance for Newcastle came as a late substitute for Callum Wilson in a 2-1 friendly win over Athletic Bilbao at St James’ Park in August 2022.

Santiago Munoz’s limited impact at Newcastle United

The Mexican featured at Under-21s level for Newcastle but was limited to just 13 appearances in total during his time on Tyneside. Munoz was the final signing of the Mike Ashley era at Newcastle and a deal that many regard as a PR stunt due to the similarities between Munoz and his fictional near-namesake Santiago Munez from the movie Goal!

Munoz joined on an initial loan deal that he hoped would become permanent.

“I am on loan and hopefully it becomes permanent,” he told The Gazette in March 2022. “I am enjoying every minute, the fans who come to the club, everything – I am so happy to be here."

Instead, he returned to Santos Laguna and went on to make a further 64 appearances for Santos Laguna, scoring four goals.

Santiago Munoz makes MLS move

The 22-year-old forward has now joined MLS side Sporting Kansas City on loan until the end of the 2025 season. Munoz was born in the United States but has represented Mexico internationally at youth level.

Like Newcastle, Sporting KC have an option to make Munoz’s loan deal permanent. The former Newcastle man was an unused substitute for his new club on Monday as they beat LA Galaxy 1-0.

Ahead of the match, Munoz was pictured holding up a Sporting KC shirt with ‘Munoz 7’ on the back at Children’s Mercy Park. The club’s official Instagram account posted the photos along with the caption: “First time in the new digs 🏡🏟️ @_santimunoz9.”

Munoz left a Santos side struggling at the bottom of Liga MX to join Kansas City, who currently sit 12th out of 15 teams in the MLS Western Conference.

Santiago Munoz reflects on NUFC ‘dream’ move

Following his departure from Newcastle, Munoz reflected on the move via 90min, stating: “There was a lot of talk for 18 months, some people agreed with the move, many people disagreed.

“But for me personally, it helped me a lot. I take it as a lesson, something very positive for me and now I have to apply it with Santos. I realised what I am capable of doing at that moment and of course I don't regret anything, far from it.

Munoz continued: “I left [Mexico] at the age of 19 to fulfil a dream in those 18 months in Europe, but without a doubt I was trained here from the age of 14 to get to that point.

“They prepared me, they taught me certain values. They instilled in me, and they gave me everything so that I could go to Europe alone for 18 months and be able to achieve that objective.”

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