Newcastle United's dealings in the transfer market under Mike Ashley were questionable, to say the least, with the club either not spending any money at all or wasting it on players who weren't up to the level required.
The Magpies spent nearly £100m during the 2015/16 season, in an attempt to be competitive in the Premier League, with Ashley finally showing signings of splashing the cash.
Jonjo Shelvey was undoubtedly the most successful out of the bunch, signing for £12m and going on to make 202 appearances for the club in his seven-year stay on Tyneside.
However, among the impressive signings, the club also recruited some players who simply didn't make the grade at St James' Park.
One player, in particular, joined the club with high expectations of being a hit at Newcastle but failed to display any lasting reason as to why the club forked out the fee they did for him.
Florian Thauvin
£13m
Aleksandar Mitrovic
£13m
Jonjo Shelvey
£12m
Chancel Mbemba
£7m
Henri Saivet
£5m
Henri Saivet's stats at Newcastle
The club had a nightmare with the signing of central midfielder Henri Saivet from French side Bordeaux in January 2016, for a fee in the region of £5m.
He signed a five-and-a-half-year deal under then-manager Steve McClaren – in a deal that would drain the club of a significant amount of money during his time on Tyneside.
The Senegalese talent played in four of the first five Premier League matches after arriving in England, but then struggled for minutes for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.
Newcastle subsequently decided to loan him out to Saint-Étienne, Sivasspor, and Bursaspor in the following campaigns, but he did play in one Premier League game during 2017/18, scoring his only goal for the Magpies in the 3-2 win against West Ham United.
However, he was eventually banished from the Magpies' first-team squad, failing to attract any loan interest and forced to train with the club's U23 side for the remainder of his time at the club.
He would leave the club in the summer of 2021 on a free transfer after his contract expired – potentially going down as one of the club's worst-ever signings.
Henri Saivet's wage at Newcastle United
During his time at St James' Park, Saivet pocketed £36k-per-week, as per Salary Sport – a huge figure given his total of just eight appearances for the club.
Taking his various loan spells into account, he would've taken home £5.6m in wages alone, but when adding his £5m fee to his weekly income, the deal cost the Magpies £10.6m in total – a total of £1.3m per game, after making just eight appearances in total.
Whilst money has reached a bonkers level in 2024, £10.6m is a huge amount of money for a club to be spending on a player, especially one that had as little impact as the Senegalese midfielder.
His departure from St James' Park in 2021 came as no surprise, with the club desperately needing to clear his wages off the bill, to allow them to invest further.
Fast forward three years, and the Magpies are in a much healthier financial position than they were under Ashley, but the Saivet deal will be a constant reminder to the club of the importance of spending their money wisely ahead of the summer.
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