Newcastle United were hit with a big blow in the summer transfer window when Alexander Isak opted to pursue a move to Premier League champions Liverpool.
The Magpies raked in a British record fee of £125m for the Sweden international, who scored 52 goals in his last two full seasons at St. James' Park in all competitions, per Sofascore.
That meant that Eddie Howe and the recruitment team had plenty of work to do in the summer to bring in players to carry a goal threat, and they did a fairly decent job.
Ranking Newcastle's summer signings
The headline signing for the Magpies was, of course, the £69m addition of Nick Woltemade as a replacement for Isak, and he has scored a respectable five goals in ten Premier League games this season.
Brentford striker Yoane Wissa
£55m signing Yoane Wissa from Brentford, though, is yet to feature for the club, due to injury, which makes it hard to judge how good of a signing he will turn out to be.
Whilst Wissa is impossible to rank, Jacob Ramsey ranks at the bottom of the pile of summer signings, right now, having failed to provide a goal or an assist in ten appearances this season for the Magpies.
|Ranking Newcastle's summer signings|
|Rank|Player|
|---|
|1|Malick Thiaw|
|2|Nick Woltemade|
|3|Aaron Ramsdale|
|4|Anthony Elanga|
|5|Jacob Ramsey|
|N/A|Yoane Wissa|
As you can see in the table above, Malick Thiaw ranks at the top of the pile after his brace against Everton, as he has provided a solid presence at the back for Newcastle.
The German giant, signed from Milan for £30m, has started nine Premier League games and won a whopping 72% of his duels, per Sofascore, which makes him the most dominant defender in the squad.
Whilst Thiaw has been a brilliant signing for the club, there is a pre-existing member of the squad who may have the potential to be their next Isak-esque superstar.
The Newcastle ace who could be their next superstar
Lewis Miley was given a rare opportunity to impress in the middle of the park against Everton, in what was his third start of the Premier League season, and he showcased his class, winning 100% (3/3) of his physical duels, per Sofascore.
The Newcastle academy graduate also scored the second goal of the match, firing past Jordan Pickford with his weak foot, which came after his brilliant corner was nodded in by Thiaw in the opening minute of the game.
Miley was once hailed as "England's next superstar" by BBC pundit Pat Nevin. Performances like his one against the Toffees at the weekend only help to back up that claim, as he looks to make his mark at senior level.
Lewis-Miley-1
The 19-year-old whiz has made 60 first-team appearances for the Magpies to date, per Transfermarkt, but the next step for him is to nail down a place as a regular starter in midfield, which means that he will need to get in over Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, or Joelinton.
That is no easy task, but it is one that he is capable of completing, as his performance against Everton proved, because the youngster has the talent to be impactful at Premier League level, despite his age and inexperience.
Lewis Miley scores for Newcastle
As a young midfielder who can score and assist goals, with four goals and six assists at first-team level so far, Miley is an even more exciting talent than Thiaw, who is not as flashy a talent as a centre-back.
The England U21 international has the chance to be a superstar for the Magpies because he is an English and academy-grown prospect who the fans can get behind and champion as 'one of their own' from the local area, which adds an extra special dynamic to his potential rise to stardom.
Miley, given that he is not a regular starter yet, still has a long way to go before he is at Isak's level of stardom at St. James' Park, but the potential is there for him to eventually hit those heights.
It is now down to the English midfielder, though, to deliver quality performances whenever he is called upon, as he did against Everton, to prove to Howe that he has the consistency required to start week-in-week-out.
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The league-winning international superstar would be bad news for Harvey Barnes but a game-changer for Eddie Howe and Newcastle United.
After Miley achieves that, the teenage talent can focus on being a real difference-maker at the top end of the pitch with goals and assists to take him from being a key player to a superstar.