Newcastle United have recently added a new striker to their ranks for a club-record fee. Aleksandar Isak cost the club £63m and has taken the place of the often-injured Callum Wilson as their new starting striker.

Although the Swede is the statement signing which marks the new era on Tyneside, the Magpies may have missed a trick by losing out on a man who would offer suitable competition to both strikers whilst providing a different element altogether from the bench.

Adam Armstrong is now a respected Premier League striker, but when Newcastle made the decision to offload him in 2018 after bringing him through their academy, they valued him at just £3m. This was the price that Blackburn Rovers had to pay for him, and they were more than willing to do so.

It took time, but the forward went on to light up the Championship, scoring an astounding 28 goals in 40 appearances during the 2020/21 season.

The 25-year-old more than earned his move back to the Premier League when joining Southampton last year, scoring on his debut before going on to contribute to five goals across 23 league games.

Unsurprisingly, his goals have seen his value rise to £13.5m (as per Transfermarkt). This marks a 350% increase in value on the price at which Newcastle sold him four years ago, and he joins the list of rash transfer decisions that the Tyneside club have made in recent years.

A similar blunder occurred with Ivan Toney, who was recently called up to the England squad and also left Newcastle in 2018.

Journalist Ian McCullough was one of many who were left questioning the Magpies' decision as he tweeted in 2021: “Adam Armstrong is a fantastic player. Not sure how Newcastle let him go.”

As mentioned earlier, the 25-year-old would likely struggle to start if he were still at St James' Park given the presence of Isak and Wilson, but he has already shown with his final season in the Championship just how prolific he can be.

He could well have improved over time at Newcastle, especially if he had been training alongside the talismanic Wilson.

Instead, Armstrong will continue to grow at St Mary’s, and if he continues to find the net with regularity, he will keep making his former club rue their decision to sell him in 2018.