We played out Newcastle’s season after £85m splurge to see what happens

Newcastle United were busy in the January transfer window, spending over £85million on five new signings as they continue their fight for Premier League safety.

Eddie Howe's side have strengthened significantly in January, and with the Magpies currently sitting in 18th place, Newcastle have a crucial four months ahead of them as they battle to survive relegation from the Premier League.

The Tyneside club exerted their new spending power straight away, bringing in Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood for a combined total of around £40million, before securing deals for Brighton's Dan Burn, Aston Villa's Matt Targett on loan and the marquee signing of Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, who was previously linked with Arsenal and Spurs.

The focus on defensive reinforcements was key for Howe, with Newcastle having conceded 43 goals in just 21 games so far this season, but all five of the new additions to the club will need to play a major part if the Magpies are to remain in the top division.

So, what could happen in the remainder of the 2021/22 Premier League season for Newcastle?

Could their new additions be pivotal in helping the Magpies to stay in the Premier League, or will suffer the same fate as they did in the 2015/16 season and be relegated?

Let’s see what happened!

We simulated Newcastle's remaining 2021/22 Premier League season

To simulate the remainder of the season, we used the Football Manager 2022 editor to update all teams, managers and playing squads of all Premier League teams. We then simulated from the end of the January transfer window in-game until the end of the 2021/22 season.

We used the Football Manager 2022 editor to replicate the current Premier League table as it is in real life, with the correct results for every fixture so far in the 2021/22 season. All in-game statistics shown from our simulated season are taken between February 8th, 2022 and May 31st, 2022.

Here's what happened.

Newcastle's new signings made an instant impact, with Eddie Howe's side seeing an improvement in both performances and results in the second half of the Magpies' season. Midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, left-back Matt Targett, centre-back Dan Burn and right-back Keiran Trippier were all key players and played a key role for the rest of the campaign.

Where do you think Newcastle will finish this season? Let us know in the comments section.

However, striker Chris Wood struggled for form and was replaced up front by either Saint-Maximin or later, Callum Wilson on his return from injury.

Saint-Maximin was sensational for the Magpies, scoring nine goals in 21 appearances, whilst Bruno Guimaraes also grabbed for goals, two more than Wood! On his return from injury at the end of the season, Wilson scored four goals in four games, finishing the season in superb form.

Let's take a look at the results that defined Newcastle's 2021/22 season.

At the end of February, the Magpies grabbed a vital win at Brentford, with Saint-Maximin and Manquillo scoring the crucial goals.

In mid-March, an early Saint-Maximin brace saw off Crystal Palace, with the Frenchman also scoring twice in an epic 2-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in early April.

And, Howe's side also saw off Arsenal 2-1 on Sunday May 15th, with Joelinton and Federico Fernandez scoring.

Here are the complete results from the Newcastle 2021/22 season simulation.

In their remaining 17 games, Newcastle won six, drew five and lost six, earning a total of 23 points, which is a vast improvement on their form at the start of the campaign.

At the end of the 2021/22 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Newcastle XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics.

This is how the best Newcastle XI looked in 2021/22 according to FM22.

Full Newcastle best XI (5-2-2-1): Dubravka; Trippier, Burn, Fernandez, Schar, Targett; Willock, Guimaraes; Almiron, Joelinton; Saint-Maximin.

Howe switched to a 5-2-2-1 in early March, following Wood's lack of form and Wilson's injury.

So, with their improvement in results and performances, could Newcastle stay up?

Here’s how the 2021/22 Premier League table looked at the end of May 2022.

The Magpies not only secured Premier League safety but also managed to finish ahead of Leeds United and Crystal Palace, in what was a superb improvement.

So following their survival, what could Newcastle do in the summer transfer window? Let's find out.

Newcastle spent a total of £167 million in the summer 2022 transfer window, signing three players for over £50 million.

Argentina left-back Marcos Acuna, Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo and Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendia were all signed for over £50 million, with Josip Ilicic and Alex Meret also signed for decent fees, with three youngsters joining on free transfers.

Emil Krafth, Jonjo Shelvey, Jamal Lewis, Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett and Javi Manquillo all left the club.

Following the conclusion of the summer 2022 transfer window, here's how Eddie Howe's side lined up.

Newcastle 2022 XI (4-2-3-1): Meret; Trippier, Araujo, Lascelles, Burn; Willock, Guimaraes; Buendia, Ilicic, Saint-Maximin; Wilson.

This Newcastle side beat Crystal Palace 5-0 in the their first game following the summer 2022 transfer window, with Wilson, Ilicic, Saint-Maximin, Burn and Trippier all getting on the scoresheet.

Overall, this simulation tells us that Newcastle could manage to avoid relegation, with their January signings making a significant impact in helping the Magpies improve defensively and in attack as Howe's side finished a well above the drop zone.

The simulation also suggests a very busy summer window, where they could strengthen even further and add genuine quality with the likes of Araujo, Acuna, Buendia, Ilicic and more.

Where do you think this Newcastle side could finish in the Premier League?

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