It was five years ago this Wednesday that everything changed for Newcastle United. October 7, 2021 was the day the PIF-backed takeover of the club was finally approved by the Premier League amid incredible scenes of celebration outside St James' Park.
It ushered in a new era where ambition was the key word, where investment would be made in the club on every level to elevate the Magpies back among England's and Europe's big boys. Spending restrictions have meant expectations have had to be tempered somewhat, but the desire to improve every single aspect of Newcastle United, from the playing squad to the behind-the-scenes infrastructure, remains a constant driving force.
A total of 34 players have been signed for the first team since that first January window, with some having a huge impact on the club. Newcastle will hope their eight signings in the summer of 2026 can have a similar impact, but here are five of the early signings who helped ring the changes.
Kieran Trippier: The trailblazer
The first and, in many ways, the most important. There can be few players have had made such an impact on a dressing room as Kieran Trippier did after signing from Atletico Madrid for a mere £12m. From the second he stepped on to the pitch in United colours it was clear he was going to be different.
His debut was a forgettable FA Cup defeat to Cambridge United, but it was obvious even then that he set high standards, and was going to elevate others to meet those expectations. He was an integral part of the side which not only survived that season but went on to achieve so much, culminating in lifting the Carabao Cup in 2025. He blazed the trail, and others would follow.
Bruno Guimaraes: The poster boy
For almost five years he was the poster boy for everything Newcastle were trying to achieve. Not many had heard of the Brazilian midfielder when Newcastle splashed £35m to sign him from Lyon, but we were soon to learn just how good he was. Eddie Howe didn't rush him into the side, but when he took his chance with both hands when it came.
If the backheel goal at Southampton wasn't enough of a sign, his chip in a 3-0 win at Norwich City cemented his place as the new United hero. Such was his standing in the squad that he was awarded the captaincy when Trippier's days as a regular first-team starter were over, but that only drove him on to more consistent displays.
Yes, his move to Arsenal this summer will have tarnished his reputation a little, but only in the short term. Once those wounds have healed - and they will - he will be rightly remembered as a club legend.
Dan Burn: The Geordie colossus
All the talk pre-takeover was of signing Kylian Mbappe and Europe's biggest names, and while that was always fanciful, a journeyman centre-back from Brighton was exactly on everyone's wishlist. How wrong we were. Enter Dan Burn, a Geordie colossus who was handed his dream ticket and didn't need a second invitation.
A towering presence at the back, he ended up playing a left-back for much of his first full season at his boyhood club, helping Newcastle to qualify for the Champions League. Goals against PSG and Liverpool at Wembley stand out as glorious moments every Newcastle fan has imagined living out - but for Burn it's a reality. Who would have thought that four years after returning to Tyneside, he would be putting his body on the line for England at the World Cup?
Now club captain, Burn has the chance to write one more chapter of a truly incredible story.
Alexander Isak: The goalscorer
I know, it's still too soon. But no one can really deny, deep down, that Isak's signing made a huge difference to Newcastle United. Callum Wilson was a superb servant to the club, but his injuries were taking their toll, and the Magpies needed someone to lead the line.
Isak had some electric displays in his first season after signing from Real Sociedad in the summer of 2022, playing predominantly on the left, but it was in that second season that he started to shine. He bagged 62 goals for Newcastle in just 109 appearances, which is a phenomenal record, and is already their second highest Premier League goalscorer ever with 54.
His acrimonious exit in 2025 soured everything, and it will be a long time - if ever - before he is forgiven by United fans.
Eddie Howe: The mastermind
OK, an appointment not a signing, but he deserves his place on this list. He may not have been the manager fans were dreaming of pre-takeover, but he was very much the right man for the moment. His cool, calm approach to the task in hand - saving United from relegation - never wavered as results failed to arrive in his first months on Tyneside.
He stayed level-headed, strengthening the squad with some superb January additions, before starting to build something special. Newcastle were second bottom of the table on January 21, 2022 when they went to Leeds and recorded a 1-0 win which lit the blue touch paper. Just four months later they would finish the season in 11th. A year later, they were in the Champions League.
Howe was the man who masterminded the end of the trophy drought with that unforgettable day at Wembley in 2025 and will forever be immortalised in United's history.
