There has been unwavering attention on Newcastle United in recent weeks regarding potential transfers given the significant upgrade in their financial status as a result of their Saudi-backed takeover.

After PIF's first transfer window at the top of the Newcastle hierarchy, Eddie Howe's squad is certainly stronger, with the signings of Bruno Guimares and Kieran Trippier the standouts from January.

However, the new regime will need to learn from previous mistakes made by their predecessors in the transfer market, with some current players in the squad falling well short of the expectations laid out for them upon signing.

This particularly applies to attacking midfielder Miguel Almiron, who certainly hasn't lived up to the then-club record £21m fee Newcastle reportedly paid Atlanta United for him in January 2019.

Three years on from his move to the northeast, the Paraguayan has only scored 13 goals for the club in 110 appearances, whilst registering just five assists. That's a return of one goal involvement every 6.1 games.

To put the figure into perspective, Almiron was averaging one goal involvement every 1.63 games for Atlanta, having scored 22 goals and contributed 21 assists over 70 appearances for the MLS outfit.

Granted, arguments can be made about the difference in the quality of opposition faced in the MLS and Premier League, but the performance figures and price tag would have indicated that the Magpies could have expected a more significant output than what has actually been produced.

With the transfer window now shut, Howe will have to make do with the squad he has in order to steer the Tyneside club clear of relegation to the Championship.

The Englishman will be steering the ship, but he'll need his crew members to step up, and that particularly includes, Almiron who has been particularly below-par this term.

The 27-year-old has started just three Premier League matches under Howe and is yet to register a goal involvement in any competition this season after 19 appearances.

He was admittedly the subject to praise from Don Goodman after a lively performance against Manchester City in December, with the Sky Sports pundit saying: “He gets through a shift, doesn’t he? He’s all-action, all energy. Attacking and defending. That’s why he’s popular around these parts.”

Hard work is important, but it's numbers like those mentioned above which have caused the Paraguayan's market value to decrease. Having been bought for £21m, the attacking midfielder is now worth £14.4m, according to Transfermarkt. His actual fee is 46% higher than his current market value, hardly a glowing indictment of his tenure on Tyneside.

That value is his lowest since signing for the Geordies but could soon go even lower, having been worth £14.4m for the majority of his tenure at St James' Park after being valued at £18m when signed three years ago.

Newcastle have 17 games left to save their season, but Almiron could have even less than that to save his Magpies career. Howe needs to see an impact from the Paraguayan soon if the team are to steer clear of danger, or else the 27-year-old will surely be out of the picture.

AND in other news, NUFC must get the most out of £35k-p/w machine who's "so good"