Bamba has played very little football since his £34.5million move from Monaco in the summer
Aladji Bamba of Newcastle United
Newcastle United midfielder Aladji Bamba(Image: 2026 Newcastle United)
As Newcastle United were put to the sword by newly promoted Coventry City in Monday's 4-1 defeat it was another game where one of their summer signings was nothing more than a bystander.
Once again, Aladji Bamba was an unused substitute and with the season now two months old the 20-year-old midfielder has played just 27 minutes of competitive football.
Matthias Jaissle has pleaded for patience when it comes to a young player adapting to a new country and a new league but it is not unfair to say that both Bamba himself and Newcastle supporters would have expected to have seen more game-time for a player who cost £34.5million to prise away from Monaco in the summer.
Joe Willock, who started the season as a number 10, started in midfield alongside Nico Gonzalez at the CBS Arena and it means once everyone is fit Jaissle has seven midfielders competing for two places in the side.
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Lewis Miley, Joelinton, Jacob Ramsey and fellow summer signing Sean Steur are all ahead of Bamba in the pecking order right now and it is very difficult to see how his situation gets any better between now and the January transfer window, unless injuries take hold in the midfield department.
It is perhaps necessary to patiently blood Bamba into the rigours of English football when you consider he only broke into the Monaco first team and only had 25 senior appearances to his name before moving to Tyneside.
But on the flipside, he played five times in last season's Champions League and Steur similarly only broke into the Ajax team last season and has taken to life in England like a duck to water.
The next question for Newcastle is how they manage Bamba's situation so that a player with enormous potential isn't left stagnating without any football.
The Magpies would have been heartened by the fact Bamba played three times for France's under-21 side over the international break, creating a goal in their win over Estonia as he helped Les Bleus qualify for next summer's European Championships.
They will hope Bamba earns another call-up for the November internationals which will offer another opportunity to get some minutes into the legs but there are still another four weeks until those fixtures.
With Bamba's first team opportunities stunted it is surely a matter of time before featuring for the club's under-21s side becomes a realistic possibility.
Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison made headlines on Tuesday evening as he started, and scored, for Spurs' under-21s side in their Jersey MIke's Trophy draw against Cheltenham Town.
Richarlison
Richarlison started for Tottenham U21s against Cheltenham Town
The Brazil international has not featured for Roberto De Zerbi's side since their opening day defeat at Brentford and after not being named in their 25-man squad for the Premier League this season he has kept busy by featuring against the League Two side in a recognised first team fixture.
While Bamba's situation is different in that he hasn't been ostracised from the first team squad to the point he cannot feature, Newcastle's under-21 side have a huge Jersey Mike's Trophy game of their own against Rotherham United at the start of November.
After winning 3-1 away at York City and losing 2-1 to Bradford City, Robbie Stockdale's side are currently in second place in the group and in a strong position to qualify for the knockout rounds when they make the trip to South Yorkshire.
It feels like the perfect chance for Newcastle to follow Spurs' lead and give Bamba some much needed minutes in a first team environment at the New York Stadium.
Similarly, it was announced this week that the under-21s will take on Sunderland in their Premier League 2 fixture against Sunderland at St James' Park on October 26.
While that obviously won't be a senior fixture, the rigours of a derby game in front of paying supporters at St James' Park could be another opportunity to get Bamba some valuable game-time and used to playing at the club's home stadium.
No matter how Bamba's situation unfolds across the coming months, it will interesting to see how Jaissle manages his situation or whether questions over the wisdom of spending £34.5million on a midfielder who can't get near the starting XI will begin to ramp up.