Isak, Guimaraes, Trippier: Newcastle's squad transformation under new owners is unreal

Newcastle United fans have seen the good times renewed on Tyneside.

Gone are the Mike Ashley days, rife with club mismanagement and weekly protests at matches.

And in came the Saudi-backed consortium, who’ve championed smart investment despite their vast riches and in doing so, got the ship pointing in the right direction again.

The new ownership group – who arrived at the club under a cloud of controversy that remains to this day – have critically made all the correct decisions since taking charge of the Magpies.

Selecting Eddie Howe as manager represents arguably the most significant call of all, given how magnificently he has performed in the role to date.

However, their transfer policy and strategic recruitment is certainly up there as well.

With their owner wealth estimated by the Daily Star to be north of £300 billion, that makes Newcastle more than 10x richer than Premier League rivals Manchester City, and by far the richest club in the world.

So it’s understandable that many expected the new owners to be breaking transfer records from the off, but, rather importantly, they haven’t done that.

Instead they’ve invested carefully, seemingly selecting their players with a fine tooth comb and with the knowledge that the road to the top isn’t instantaneous.

Consequently, their acquisitions have worked perfectly in propelling the club forward whilst not upsetting the existing balance amongst the squad – and now you’re seeing the benefits of that week after week on the pitch.

So, to see how far the club have come in the 10 months since the new owners have been at the helm, we’ve decided to compare their very first starting XI to their strongest XI now.

GK – Karl Darlow

RB – Javier Manquillo CB – Jamal Lascelles