Newcastle United’s highest player earners (ranked)

As much as we all wish it wasn’t, modern football is dominated by money, whether that be eyewatering transfer fees, otherworldly pay packets, or the money third parties skim off the top, and nowhere is that truer than in the Premier League.

England’s top flight is comfortably the wealthiest league in Europe, and the richest team in that league is none other than Newcastle United. With that in mind, we at Football FanCast have taken a look at the top ten best-paid players in the Magpies’ squad, per Capology.

10
Anthony Gordon – £60,000 a week

Just about making it onto the list as the Magpies’ tenth-highest earner, the jury is still out as to whether Gordon will ultimately be a success in the northeast.

The boyhood Everton fan moved to St James Park from the Toffees in January of this year with a hefty price tag of £45m. Moving to a new club with such a price tag can be challenging enough for many players, but the controversy surrounding his move only brought more scrutiny as he handed in a transfer request to get out of Goodison.

So far, he has started eight games for Newcastle and made a further 12 appearances off the bench, but he has only been able to score two goals and provided a single assist in that time, which just isn’t good enough now that the club are challenging at the top of the table.

That said, the 21-year-old has made a decent enough start to the season this year and looked brilliant at the Under-21s European Championships, where he helped England come home as champions.

9
Joe Willock – £80,000 a week

Unlike Gordon, there is very little debate as to whether Joe Willock has been a success in black and white. The 24 year old has been a fantastic player for the Toon ever since his initial loan move back in January 2021 – when he scored eight goals in just 14 appearances.

While his scoring has undoubtedly taken a backseat following his permanent £25m switch in the summer of 2021 – scoring just 5 times in the subsequent 64 games – he has still been an instrumental player for Eddie Howe in this new era for the club.

In his 31 starts last season, he scored three goals, provided six assists, won two Man of the Match awards and averaged a match rating of 6.88, so we’d argue that he is fully deserving of his place on this list.

However, it will be interesting to see if he can keep a place in the side as the team continue to progress and attract more and more top talent.

8
Harvey Barnes – £80,000 a week

The first new face on the list, Harvey Barnes, comes straight into the club’s top earners list following his £39m move from the recently relegated Leicester City.

While he has just 90 minutes of league football under his belt for Newcastle this season, he has already looked electric in the short cameos he has had, scoring and assisting on his debut against Aston Villa.

If the once-capped Englishman can replicate even some of the form he showed for the Foxes last term, then the fans should be very excited about this transfer.

In his 32 starts for the Midlands outfit, he scored 13 goals and provided one assist, which, if we’re being fair, probably justifies his £80,000 a week wages at St James Park.

7
Joelinton – £85,000 a week

Joelinton is such a fascinating player, as when he arrived from Hoffenheim for a then club record fee of £40m, many had high expectations for him. Unfortunately, his first two years at the club were pretty much a disaster as Steve Bruce was determined to keep playing the Brazilian up top, a position which just was not suited to his skill set.

Luckily for Joelinton – and the fans – one of the first things Howe did when he took the job was to move the struggling forward into midfield, where we went from frankly rubbish to one of the best in the league.

Last season, he started 30 league games for the team, scored six goals, provided one assist, won three man of the match awards and averaged a match rating of 7.24. He has become an essential cog in Newcastle’s machine, so he is well deserving of his place on the list. In fact, we’re surprised he isn’t higher up; such is his importance.

6
Sven Botman – £90,000 a week

The £35m signing of Sven Botman last summer was a real coup for the Magpies as they had to fight off one of Europe’s biggest and most storied sides to get it done, AC Milan.

The 23-year-old has taken like a duck to water on Tyneside and has easily been one of the league’s best defenders since his arrival. He started 35 league games last season and was a vital reason why the club conceded just 33 goals – the joint fewest in the whole league.

The scary thing for the rest of the league is that at just 23, Botman still has a lot of developing to do, so he could be a genuine world beater by the time he reaches his late twenties, and for that reason, his spot on this list is more than justified.

5
Matt Targett – £100,000 a week

Matt Target is an interesting one, as while there is no doubt that the 27-year-old is Premier League quality, there is some doubt as to whether he is of the level required to help the Toon push on now that they have reached the Champions League for the first time in over two decades.

The full-back was initially signed on loan in January 2022 to help the club stave off relegation under their new owners, with the deal being made permanent in the summer of the same year.

Since then, he has only started seven league games, making another 12 appearances from the bench, and while injuries have certainly hampered him, Howe doesn’t seem convinced that Targett is the player he needs.

As harsh as it might sound, we reckon Targett’s inclusion on this list might be the first miss.

4
Sandro Tonali – £120,000 a week

Not just another new signing, but the new signing. Sandro Tonali arrived in Newcastle this summer as the club’s marquee signing, and if they wanted to get the footballing world talking, they certainly succeeded.

While the £55m fee to get the deal done is nothing too crazy in modern football, the transfer itself was massive. It felt like an announcement from the club, a proclamation to the rest of the Premier League – and Europe – that Newcastle had arrived and they weren’t going anywhere.

The £120,000 a week wages might seem like a lot, but it was probably necessary to convince Tonali as Milan was his boyhood club, so leaving them couldn’t have been easy.

That said, the 23-year-old has proven over the last few years, both domestically and internationally, that he has the skill and the mindset to succeed at the highest level, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up higher on this list much quicker than people expect.

3
Kieran Trippier – £120,000 a week

Kieran Trippier was the first signing of the Howe era, and to say that it’s been a success would be dramatically underselling it. The former Tottenham Hotspur full-back immediately settled into the team and became one of the group’s core leaders seemingly overnight.

In his first season at the club, he helped to guide them to safety before guiding them to European football the season after. While Jamaal Lascelles is currently the club’s official captain, Trippier is the one usually wearing the armband as he starts the majority of games – he was also seen welcoming Tonali to the team.

His pay packet might seem excessive for an ageing defender, but he has already proven his worth to the team ten times over, and we don’t see him leaving the club anytime soon.

2
Bruno Guimarães – £120,000 a week

The other Brazilian in Newcastle’s midfield and just like Joelinton, Bruno Guimarães is an outstanding footballer and an essential part of the midfield that has propelled the team up the league over the last two years.

Similarly to Botman, securing the signature of the 25-year-old for just £40m was a real coup for the club in January 2022 as he had been performing exceptionally well for Lyon in Ligue1.

He carried that form into his time on Tyneside, and in the 47 league starts since his arrival, he has scored nine goals and provided six assists, making his inclusion this high up the list entirely justified.

1
Alexander Isak – £120,000 a week

And then there was one. Alexander Isak rounds out the list of Newcastle’s best-paid players taking home the same £120,000 a week wage as the three names before him, and just like them, he’s worth every penny.

There was an element of risk when the club went out and spent a record fee of £63m to sign the Swedish striker, but after a slowish start that was hampered by injuries, the 23-year-old has more than repaid the Toon’s faith.

In his 21 league starts, he has scored 12 goals and provided one assist and has now comfortably replaced Callum Wilson as the side’s starting number nine. With the club trending in the right direction and quality behind him, Isak could soon become one of the best strikers in world football.