Newcastle United have had a slew of successful players in the past. They have also recruited some outright flops.
In recent years, recruitment has been overwhelmingly positive on Tyneside, with players hitting the ground running immediately after signing for the Magpies under Eddie Howe.
A lot of that is a testament to Howe’s managerial style, ensuring he can get the most out of his players. A prime example of this is Joelinton. Although nobody anticipated his meteoric rise as a midfielder, Howe took it in his stride and made the Brazilian a feared midfield brute who works perfectly with Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali.
Unfortunately, Howe hasn’t been able to work his magic on every player who has come through the door though. With the likes of Lloyd Kelly failing to impress in their limited game time. Kelly moved to Juventus in the January transfer window after growing frustrated with his lack of minutes for the Magpies.
Kelly is set to join Juventus permanently in the summer, leaving fans to wonder what went wrong for the 26-year-old. Newcastle United fans also had the same feelings towards one player who was tipped for success but ultimately flopped in the North East.
Photo by Newcastle United via Getty Images
Photo by Newcastle United via Getty Images
Florian Thauvin was a huge flop at Newcastle
In the wider footballing world, French winger Florian Thauvin is recognised as a top-class winger who impressed for every club he played for. However, those fans may not remember that Thauvin also had a disastrous stint at Newcastle under equally shocking Steve McClaren.
Thauvin was signed by Newcastle for a reported fee of £13m in the summer of 2015 and there were high hopes for the young winger who had impressed for Marseille the season before.
Upon signing him, McClaren said that Thauvin had a ‘very bright future’ at Newcastle and backed him to be successful on Tyneside.
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However, that was far from the case, with Thauvin only scoring once for Newcastle in 16 appearances. The Frenchman failed to score in the Premier League with his only goal coming against Northampton in a Carabao Cup second-round tie against Northampton Town – his only three assists for the club also came in that game.
Thauvin only lasted a few months at Newcastle before being loaned back to Marseille for the rest of the season, linking up with former Toon star Remy Cabella.
Florian Thauvin’s career after Newcastle
Following relegation to the Championship that season, Thauvin was loaned back to Marseille in the summer of 2016 and would confirm a permanent return to the Ligue 1 side a year later following a spectacular season, scoring 15 goals in 38 league games.
Thauvin cemented his place in France’s national side following another brilliant season and was part of the squad that won the World Cup in 2018. Thauvin only played two minutes of the campaign but he will still take his fair share of the praise either way.
In 2021, Thauvin joined Mexican side Tigres where he was fairly successful, helping them win the Liga MX in 2023.
Thauvin’s Tigres contract was terminated in 2023, three-and-a-half years earlier than expected. Now 32, Thauvin is back in Europe playing for Serie A side Udinese.
Although it didn’t work out on Tyneside, things look to have worked out okay for Thauvin in the end.