A section of Newcastle fans were found partying outside St James' Park when PIF officially completed their takeover of the club from Mike Ashley.

Supporters were then given another reason to rejoice as the club decided to take down the Sports Direct signage from the ground this week, removing sizeable reminders of the much-maligned former owner.

However, it will take longer to reshape the dysfunctional playing squad he created, with the Magpies currently sitting 19th in the Premier League table.

Transfer howler

One signing with whom the Sports Direct mogul had a complete howler was the addition of Emil Krafth from Ligue 1 side Amiens in the summer of 2019.

Ashley reportedly sanctioned a £5m transfer fee for the right-back. The defender signed a four-year, initial £32k-per-week, deal at St James' Park, which went up to £37k-per-week this term. This means that he earned £1.6m per season in his first two years at the club and is set to earn £1.9m by the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

He averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.30 in the Premier League in 17 games in his first season on Tyneside. He then recorded an average score of 6.47 in 16 games in 2020/21 and is currently averaging a rating of 6.23 this term, having started five games and made one more appearance as a substitute.

In terms of WhoScored ratings, he has ranked 19th (current), 16th (2020/21) and 24th (2019/20) in the Magpies squad in his two-and-a-half seasons at the club to date. This highlights how he has never been able to consistently perform to a good enough standard under Steve Bruce or Eddie Howe.

Former Arsenal forward Ian Wright previously claimed that the Sweden international was 'out of his depth' under Bruce last year, saying“I thought Krafth was way too out of his depth there, playing in that position. Steve Bruce, with the players that he’s got and how it’s going, they’re doing the best that they could but the mistakes cost them.”

At the time of writing (11/12/21), Transfermarkt value him at just £3.15m - a drop-off from the £5m Newcastle paid for him just two years ago. This shows that he has been a disaster of a signing both in terms of his on-pitch performances and from the financial aspect of the deal, as his current valuation suggests that the club would have to take a loss on him if they decided to sell.

Therefore, Ashley had a howler with the signing of Krafth in 2019, and the defender is just one example of the remaining issues from the former owner's tenure that PIF will need to fix in the coming weeks, months and years.

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