Newcastle were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday after a brutal 7-2 defeat to Barcelona
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe during the 7-2 defeat to Barcelona
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe during the 7-2 defeat to Barcelona(Image: 2026 Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA)
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Whatever criticism has been thrown Eddie Howe's way this season, some of it warranted and lots of it unwarranted, one thing you can't deny is that his legacy at Newcastle United is clear.
In his four-and-a-half years in the job, Howe has transformed the Magpies from relegation fodder to trophy winners. A team that competes in the latter stages of the domestic cups and has twice qualified for the Champions League.
That legacy was underlined by the fact Howe took a Newcastle United side to Barcelona, to the Camp Nou, the historic home of the reigning Spanish champions, and there was genuine belief the Magpies could go there and win.
For 45 minutes on Wednesday night, they backed up that belief. Just as they did in the 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at St James' Park, Newcastle's front three exposed Barcelona's high defensive line.
The intensity of their press and man-for-man marking caused Barcelona huge problems but as soon as that intensity waned, their technical ability ripped Newcastle apart.
Howe's approach has always been bold and has always been laced with risk vs reward. For three halves across the two legs, that gamble look to have paid off. By the 61st minute on Wednesday, it had spectacularly backfired.
The margins were small but the chasm in the 7-2 scoreline was massive and that chasm between an elite club like Barcelona and an aspiring club like Newcastle is only ever going to grow unless the rules around transfer spending change.
Barcelona had world class talent right across their squad last night. Marcus Rashford, who scored twice in the league stage match between the two sides in the Champions League, didn't even come off the bench.
Seven of Barcelona's starting XI graduated from the club's famous La Masia academy, too. Another five were in their matchday squad. It is something that takes years to build but the infrastructure and the quality of their academy system means they always have a hearty production line churning out world class talent.
Newcastle don't have that yet and it will take years to even get close to those levels of production. It will take time and it is something they cannot rely on.
Nor can they rely on their oil-rich owners to finance transformative transfer windows in the same way Manchester City's were after they took over the club back in 2008.
When City beat Newcastle 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth round earlier this month, they made 10 changes to their starting XI from the previous game and arguably didn't get any weaker. They have the quality squad depth to cope with the gruelling schedule competing in four competitions, against teams at the highest level, can bring. In Newcastle's 50th game of the season last night, their second half capitulation showed their squad has ran out of steam.
In order to kick on to the next level, Newcastle need to upgrade players that are on the fringes and replace them with top quality signings.
The reality is Newcastle could end up selling Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento, two players who were signed after the club had finished fourth in the Premier League three years ago.
Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United
Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United(Image: 2025 Jacques Feeney/Offside)
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Livramento was supposed to be Newcastle's right-back for the next decade and was signed from a position of strength after Kieran Trippier had just been named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season.
When the time arrived for Trippier to move on, Livramento's arrival from Southampton was supposed to mitigate having to scrap around for an expensive replacement because the replacement was already in the building.
Instead, with Trippier out of contract this summer and Arsenal and Man City circling to sign Livramento, Newcastle could be in a situation where they need to sign two new right-backs.
Tonali's £55million arrival from AC Milan felt like a signing to take Newcastle to the next level. That next level feels like something Newcastle may not be able to achieve.
Between themselves and Aston Villa, they are yo-yoing anywhere between fourth and eighth in the Premier League table across each of the last four seasons. They are on the cusp of punching through the glass ceiling and disrupting the 'big six' but the spending rules limit their ability to do so.
Last night brought home the fact that four-and-a-half years into the Saudi-backed project, they are facing an existential crisis.
Are Newcastle a team that aims to finish between fourth to eighth every season in the Premier League and has a go in the cups? If so, that feels like something a lot of fans would accept but it also feels like the club should own that it is the limit of their ambition.
Or are Newcastle going to shoot for the stars and become one of the biggest clubs in the world by 2030 as CEO David Hopkinson professed to Chronicle Live back in December?
Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson
Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson
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If so, how do the club propose to do that when they can only spend so much in the transfer market and are struggling to bridge the commercial gap between themselves and the big six?
Last season, Newcastle generated the 17th highest revenue in world football of £344.2million but that figure was only the eighth highest in English football.
While their overall revenue and commercial revenue have risen exponentially during the last four years, they were still dwarfed by the traditional big six clubs and Aston Villa.
As a result, Newcastle need to regularly qualify for the Champions League to increase their revenue streams, retain their top playing talent and attract new stars to the club.
But finishing in the top four, or top five as looks likely this season to secure a Champions League place, in the Premier League is no mean feat, particularly when you have the eighth largest wage budget in the division.
The fact Howe has managed it twice deserves huge credit but the manner of their Champions League exit in Catalonia served as a brutal reminder of where Newcastle currently lie in the football food chain.
As they battle to qualify for European football next season in their final eight league games of the campaign, Champions League football next season looks to be beyond them.
In what is the first summer transfer window under Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson, we should get a better sense of the direction of the club's travel.
What those answers reveal will be telling.