Newcastle United's squad is built on tremendous new signings under the PIF ownership and the management of Eddie Howe, but that's not to say that there weren't a few diamonds in amongst the rubble in the days preceding the new era.
The Premier League side have certainly been bolstered by the lucrative takeover and would not have risen from their lowly position with half as much vigour had the newly-appointed Howe been unable to make impactful acquisitions in January 2022.
But the diligence and astuteness of the business has been nothing short of remarkable, with some free-spending outfits left scratching their heads and wondering just how this dream formula has passed them by.
Joelinton is probably the prime example, having been converted from a profligate striker to a brutish midfield engine, paramount to the club's success.
But he's by no means the only one, and one player who has been out of the headlines this season in Joe Willock has arguably had just as profound an impact on United's endeavours over the past few years.
Why did Newcastle sign Joe Willock?
Newcastle completed the loan signing of Willock from Arsenal in January 2021, having scored eight goals from just 14 appearances and netting in seven successive matches.
It's fair to say he impressed during that stint, and consequently earned a £25m move to St. James' Park with Arsenal unable to give him assurances regarding the regularity of his minutes on the pitch, and he has since worked his way into one of Europe's most exciting projects.
He has never quite recovered the incredible rate of scoring, but this matters not for a player who has been moulded into one of the most robust and dynamic midfielders in the Premier League.
How good is Joe Willock?
Having joined Newcastle on a permanent deal in the summer of 2021, Willock has yet to rekindle the level of prolific brilliance that captured the awe of the Tyneside masses upon his initial arrival.
That is not, however, to say that he enjoyed an early purple patch and has since languished, far from it; now 24-years-old, the former Gunner has been utilised in a thriving midfield pivot primarily consisting of Brazilian's Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton, with Sean Longstaff and Willock both bringing energy and positivity to the centre.
It was partly why the Magpies flew so high last season, with Howe even going as far as to label him "pivotal" to the system, completing 85% of his passes in the league last term, creating 12 big chances and tacking 1.5 shots and making 1.7 tackles per outing.
Season
Games
Goals
Assists
22/23
43
3
6
21/22
31
2
0
20/21 (NUFC)
14
8
0
20/21 (AFC)
11
3
3
19/20
42
3
1
18/19
6
3
0
Sourced via Transfermarkt
This season, Willock is still awaiting his maiden appearance, having sustained a hamstring injury in the closing weeks of the Premier League campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion, since aggravating the issue and leading the Daily Mail's Craig Hope to begrudgingly confirm his continuing absence last month.
The £80k-per-week phenom offers energy and intensity in the same way as Longstaff, but offers a far more dynamic and creative threat, which makes him a very singular kind of midfield threat, boasting an array of methods to wreak devastation on the opposition and just as tenacious in his defensive application.
Indeed, as per FBref, the 5 foot 10 gem ranks among the top 19% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 12% for assists, the top 3% for progressive carries, the top 8% for successful take-ons, the top 1% for touches in the attacking box and the top 7% for blocks per 90.
Such metrics instantly spring one Jude Bellingham, aged just 20, to mind, with the prodigious England international boasting a remarkable semblance in playing style to Newcastle's dynamo.
The "generational" starlet, as he has been dubbed by journalist Raphael Honigstein, moved from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid for an initial £88.5m in the summer, and has obliterated expectations with ten goals and three assists from his opening ten games – a better start to life with Los Blancos than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bellingham, believed to be on £347k-per-week, ranks among the top 1% of positional peers for goals, the top 17% for assists, the top 4% for shot-creating actions, the top 6% for progressive carries, the top 1% for successful take-ons and touches in the attacking box and the top 5% for blocks per 90.
Now, of course, Willock is not on Bellingham's level at present – quite candidly, is anyone? But Newcastle's exciting ace is considered the most comparable player, via FBref, to his precocious countryman and offers similar skills, and given his "limitless" potential, as claimed by writer Simon Collings, he too could start to strut his stuff with stunning style once back on the grass.
#1 Joe Willock (Newcastle)
#2 Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
#3 Fede Valverde (Real Madrid)
#4 Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
#5 Lovro Majer (Wolfsburg)
The one-time Birmingham City youth has captured the awe with his unbelievably clinical start to life in Spain, described as "so special" by Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, who urged people to remember that goals are not everything and his game stretches far, far wider.
Willock too has underscored his goalscoring credentials with a destructive start to life on Tyneside, and upon his comeback, perhaps with Sandro Tonali deployed deeper next to Guimaraes, this could be realised once again.
Journalist Daniel Wales corroborates such a notion, claiming that Willock is both similar to Bellingham last season and is deserving of a place in Gareth Southgate's England squad alongside him.
He said: "I saw a stat yesterday, it showed players that are similar to Jude Bellingham and I think it was Gavi and Pedri were the top two.
"And then Joe Willock was third after those, if I remember rightly, showing that he is certainly capable of, perhaps not exactly emulating the ability of Jude Bellingham – we know how good he is for his age as well – but certainly producing performances good enough to get him in the England squad with that sort of ability that Joe Willock is showing week-in, week-out."
Again, Willock is not Bellingham, and to claim he is the second coming is simply untrue but given his proven goalscoring ability and all-encompassing, energetic midfield game, the Toon talent could prove to make a resounding return to Howe's squad soon.
Perhaps even orchestrating a run of form so great that the Magpies soar into heights unseen at St. James' Park for many, many years.