It hasn't been the best of seasons for Newcastle United this year.
Eddie Howe's side have been decimated by a slew of injuries and have struggled to compete domestically and in Europe.
That said, there have been some bright spots for the Toon, notably Swedish striker Alexander Isak, who continues to wow fans and pundits alike.
However, the fan favourite was actually outscored by a former Newcastle flop last year.
Alexander Isak's Newcastle career in numbers
Newcastle signed Isak from La Liga side Real Sociedad in August 2022 for a club-record fee of £63m, and while that's certainly a lot of money, it's been well spent.
Described as a "different level" by U23 scout Antonio Mango, the former Borussia Dortmund star took no time at all to get up to speed with life in the Premier League, scoring his first goal for the club on his debut, which just happened to be at Anfield.
While injuries certainly disrupted his first season with the Magpies, a final haul of ten goals and three assists in just 27 games is rather impressive for a striker's first year in the league.
The 24-year-old has had to deal with yet more injury problems this year. However, despite that and the team's overall poor form, the Sweden international has still scored 16 goals in 29 appearances for the club, giving him a seriously impressive average of 0.55 goals per game and fully justifying his hefty £120k-per-week wage.
Season
2022/23
2023/24
Appearances
27
29
Goals
10
16
Assists
3
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.48
0.55
However, as impressive as Isak has been since moving to Tyneside, a former Toon flop actually outscored him last season.
What Yoshinori Muto cost Newcastle
The player in question is Japan international Yoshinori Muto, who joined the Magpies in a £9.5m transfer from Bundesliga side Mainz in the summer of 2018.
The former FC Tokyo ace had a relatively successful spell in Germany, racking up 23 goals and 11 assists for the team in just 72 appearances. Unfortunately for the Toon, he didn't get anywhere near this rate of return in England.
In total, the Setagaya-born attacker, who was earning £54k-per-week at the time, scored just two goals in his 28 appearances for the club, which amounted to a grand total of 943 minutes of football.
After two years of poor performances, he was sent on a season-long loan to Spanish outfit SD Eibar, where he continued to underwhelm, scoring three goals and providing two assists in 28 appearances.
He was finally moved on in 2021 after returning from his loan spell, meaning that he cost the club around £5.6m in wages, or around £15.1m, when his transfer fee is considered.
Therefore, he cost the Magpies a whopping £7.5m-per-goal, £541k-per-appearance, or £16k-per-minute.
Transfer Fee
£9.5m
Total Wages
£5.6m
Total Cost
£15.1m
Appearances
28
Cost per Appearance
£541k
Minutes
943'
Cost per Minute
£16k
Goals
2
Cost per Goal
£7.5m
Yoshinori Muto's record after leaving Newcastle
With how badly his spell in the northeast went, fans might have expected the 5 foot 10 attacker to continue to disappoint at his next club, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.
In all, Muto has scored 23 goals and provided 23 assists in 86 appearances for Vissel Kobe, and his return of 11 goals and 12 assists last season is better than what Isak could muster in black and white, albeit in a much tougher league.
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In the current day, the striker has played two matches in the J-League which has just kicked off, failing to score yet from 129 minutes of action.
Although now performing rather away from St James', signing Muto from Mainz in 2018 proved to be one of Newcastle's worst transfers in recent memory, and one the new ownership probably wouldn't have made.