Newcastle United under Mike Ashley were hardly given plenty of money to spend, so when they did it was frustrating to see it thrown down the drain.

Until recently, Joelinton looked like he might be a huge flop given his £40m fee, before he completed his sensational turnaround, but one player unlikely to perform such a miracle is Jamal Lewis.

Signed by Steve Bruce for £15m, at the time it seemed to be a smart move to fulfil their left-back position for the foreseeable future.

Even Kaveh Solhekol expected big things from the Northern Ireland international: “Jamal Lewis is so highly rated, it was only a couple of weeks ago that Liverpool were trying to sign him. 

“Even though Norwich finished bottom of the Premier League last season, he was one of the standout performers for them. On paper, it looks like an excellent signing for Newcastle United."

Unfortunately for the journalist and the Magpies, the game is not played on paper.

The full-back has struggled since making the switch to St James’ Park, having made just 33 appearances in all competitions over his two years at the club. He is yet to score, and assisted just once.

It does not come as a great surprise, however, to see him feature so little, as in his limited appearances last season he averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.49.

This huge drop-off in form and game time has unsurprisingly seen his value plummet too, with CIES Football Observatory rating him at just €3m (£2.6m) now.

Just last January he was deemed surplus to requirements on Tyneside, with a ruthless Eddie Howe instantly opting to sign Matt Targett instead of playing him.

Former Leeds United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny labelled his decision to stick around at Newcastle as “really strange”, questioning: “Would you not rather go out there and prove the club wrong or try and earn a place for next season.”

Bruce was handed a large sum of money compared to other managers under the Ashley reign, and this particular outlay represents a disappointing transfer for the club.

Luckily, given the new owner’s insane wealth, they will not mind losing out on the defensive dud.