Newcastle have “wasted their bag” on the new version of Florian Thauvin

Newcastle United‘s summer transfer window has left much to be desired, with PIF and Eddie Howe yet to prove that this year’s dealings have been as on-the-money as the first several years of this ambitious project.

Anthony Elanga, for example, ended a long and arduous search for a right winger in August, moving to St. James’ Park from Nottingham Forest for a £55m fee and with a weight of expectation attached.

But the Swedish winger has been anything but effective for his new club, with his big-money arrival and failure to produce reminiscent of Florian Thauvin before him.

Florian Thauvin’s time at Newcastle

Newcastle signed French winger Thauvin from Marseille for a hefty £13m back in 2015, viewed as an up-and-coming superstar who could help guide the Magpies forward during those dark Mike Ashley-led days.

Named the Ligue 1 Player of the Month for September, Thauvin received his first call-up to the Les Bleus national set-up since 2019 in October, scoring on his return in a World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan.

A career journeyman, there’s no question that Thauvin was at his lowest ebb – or thereabouts – when moving to Newcastle, too young and inconsistent to thrive in the Premier League. He featured 13 times in the English top division, starting three matches, before returning to Marseille, having failed to adapt.

However, Thauvin, now 32, is enjoying quite the late-career revival in his homeland with RC Lens, having scored five goals and supplied two assists across 16 Ligue 1 fixtures this term.

Elanga might feel like the new version of Thauvin, disappointing from the right flank, but he’s been selected as the leading man on Howe’s right wing and has only Jacob Murphy for competition.

Thauvin was something of a pointless buy in hindsight, and there’s a sense that PIF have repeated that purchase with another squad member in 2025.

Howe must be worried he’s repeated Thauvin mistake

Elanga will be Newcastle’s leading right winger over the next few years without transfer intervention, but the same cannot be said for Jacob Ramsey, who arrived from Aston Villa for a £42.5m figure during the summer transfer window and has struggled to establish himself in the pecking order.

Ramsey, 24, has made 144 appearances in the Premier League, scoring 14 goals and registering 14 assists, but he has been reduced to a bit-part role on Tyneside, with injuries and struggles for form inhibiting him.

He’s enjoyed some measure of success in Newcastle’s first team, winning a respectable amount of duels for Newcastle this season while trying to be progressive with his passing.

However, Ramsey’s opportunities have been few and far between, and with Lewis Miley on the up and Newcastle interest in former academy product Elliot Anderson simmering in the background, the former Villan’s chances may become slimmer and slimmer.

Thauvin didn’t work out, but Newcastle had signed Ayoze Perez for a small fee only the season before, and he went on to become a prolific and consistent right-sided forward, one of the brightest sparks in that pre-PIF world.

Ramsey’s departure, likewise, wouldn’t be too keenly felt by the Toon side, even with his profile having been coveted and secured during the summer. He’s passionate and committed, but he needs to do more, and currently looks like he will be hard-pressed for a long run of minutes under Howe’s wing.

Ramsey needs to improve throughout the business months of the season, but there’s no question that he’s a naturally gifted and industrious midfielder, hailed by Steven Gerrard when coming up at Aston Villa for being “undroppable” and with a future at the top of the England national set-up.

That hasn’t happened yet, with injuries playing a defining part there. Analyst Raj Chohan has rather scathingly remarked that Newcastle have “wasted their bag” on the Englishman, and in this, there are frustrating parallels with Thauvin well before him.

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