logo
logo
One former Toon striker is banging them in for Real Madrid and Spain.

5 former Newcastle players who are currently thriving away from St James’ Park

Newcastle United have plenty of alumni playing for other clubs and a handful of them are currently living their best lives since leaving the club.

As Eddie Howe’s squad look to rectify a worrying string of results, several of their former players are enjoying fine seasons elsewhere.

We’ve picked out five former Newcastle players that are currently loving life after moving away from St James’ Park.

Joselu

After arriving in England back in 2015, Joselu struggled to nail down a starting spot at both Stoke and Newcastle and barely an eyebrow was raised when he returned to La Liga in 2019.

But the striker’s form sky-rocketed after joining Espanyol, with 17 goals in 37 appearances in 2022-23 and scoring on his international debut for Spain.

It earnt him a move to Real Madrid and, with eight goals in 23 games, the 33-year-old is hardly embarrassing himself. It’s a great story.

Chris Wood

You all saw that hat-trick. Right?

Bobby Clark

Poached from Newcastle in 2021, Clark had previously been given the moniker of the ‘new Gazza’ by the Tyneside press.

“Bobby was Newcastle’s most promising youngster,” wrote the Evening Chronicle’s Lee Ryder after the move to Anfield was confirmed.

“He is a really exciting player with bags of skill and talent. He could have lit up the stage at St James’ Park but now he has gone to Liverpool and that is a real kick in the teeth.

“You have always go to be very careful with comparisons but for me – and I don’t talk about this lightly – but at the same sort of age, you had a young Paul Gascoigne at Newcastle.”

Clark was handed a couple of first-team opportunities by Klopp last season, but hasn’t made a senior appearance this term.

“It’s a great time to be a young footballer here,” he told the Liverpool website last summer. “I’ve been working hard in the summer and I keep trying to get fitter. I just want to show the manager what I can do. Hopefully I can get more chances.

It’s likely that the youngster will be sent on loan in January to gain crucial first-team experience before trying to crack Klopp’s squad.

 

Florian Lejeune

You’d be forgiven for not knowing that Lejeune was on Manchester City’s books before moving to Newcastle in 2017.

Once at St James’, Lejeune proved himself to be a fine centre-back and memorably scored twice in injury-time at Everton in 2020 to rescue an unlikely draw. He also described, in detail, how he’d dispose of a dead body in the matchday programme.

After leaving England, the defender continues to prove his quality at La Liga upstarts Rayo Vallecano. He’s made 19 appearances so far in 2023-24.

Jack Colback

Colback was a solid performer during a less glamourous Newcastle era, making 102 appearances for the club between 2014 and 2020.

The midfielder joined Nottingham Forest after leaving St James’ Park, playing a crucial role in the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2022 and playing a more bit-part role in their successful fight to avoid relegation last year.

The 34-year-old has dropped back down to the Championship with QPR, scoring twice in his first four appearances. The west Londoners will need all of Colback’s experience to avoid a ruinous relegation.


READ NEXT: 7 players that did nothing at Newcastle but shone after leaving

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Newcastle United manager in the Premier League era?