It has been a year like no other for Newcastle United in 2022. The club has gone from the Premier League relegation zone to the Champions League places in less than 12 months.
The form of Eddie Howe’s side has been very imprsssive. While the head coach has worked wonders at St James’s Park, he has also been helped with some smart and substatial business in the transfer market.
The United squad has been bolstered significantly in 2022 with the arrivals of Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Nick Pope, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Loris Karius. Meanwhile, the only departures at the club have been necessary ones in order to make space in the squad, no high profile names have left.
In the past, Newcastle were deemed a selling club, whose net spend was often in the black while their Premier League rivals continued to strengthen. But times have changed and Newcastle are now capable of spending and strengthening with each passing transfer window.
Here’s how the Premier League clubs rank from lowest net spend (biggest profit) to highest over the two transfer windows in 2022...
13. Wolverhampton Wanderers - £76.32m
Wolves have endured a difficult start to the Premier League season despite spending big on signings such as Matheus Nunes for over £40million. They also benefitted from the sale of Morgan Gibbs-White for an initial fee of £26.55million which could rise to over £40million based on performance related add-ons. | Getty Images
14. Arsenal: -£98.61m
Arsenal secured Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City in the summer for £46.98million. The addition of Oleksandr Zinchenko also didn’t come cheap at over £30million. The Gunners did generate some money through player sales in 2022 with Matteo Guendouzi joining Marseille for around £10million. | Getty Images
15. Nottingham Forest: -£143.47m
Newly promoted Nottingham Forest took the summer transfer market by storm as they signed an almost entire new squad worth of players. Their record signing Morgan Gibbs-White cost an initial fee of £26.55million from Wolves. But perhaps the transfer window was a case of quantity over quality as Forest currently sit in the relegation zone. | Getty Images
16. West Ham United: -£146.88m
West Ham spent lavishly in the summer of 2022 with the signings of Lucas Paqueta, Gianluca Scamacca and Nayef Aguerd for a combined total in excess of £100million. Issa Diop was West Ham’s biggest departure as he joined Fulham for £16million. | Getty Images