Newcastle United fans have had a lot to cheer about since their club's takeover in 2021 by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The new owners have brought in incredible star power, with Alexander Isak, Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes all joining the club in recent windows, and manager Eddie Howe has pushed the Magpies to Champions League qualification last year.
For instance, during this summer's transfer window alone PIF have spent £131m.
But it hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows at St James' Park – previous owner Mike Ashley was hated by fans due to the way he ran the club and his transfer policy.
One of the worst signings the controversial Sports Direct mogul ever made was in 2015 when he signed French winger Florian Thauvin.
How much did Thauvin cost?
During the 2014/15 season, Newcastle narrowly avoided relegation by four points and to try and avoid the threat of relegation again Ashley spent £59m during the transfer window.
A large sum of that was spent on the now 30-year-old, who cost the north-east giants around £13m from Marseille, which was quite an investment for the club at that time.
After signing for the Magpies, Thauvin confirmed that his large price tag didn’t mean anything to him.
He said: "It's not a problem for me to have such a high price tag. I am a footballer and that's my passion and my job.
"It's always been my dream to be a footballer in the Premier League, and I'm happy to be here and do that.
"The Premier League is well known for being a very physical league It's a bit different to France.
“It's not something that concerns me, although maybe I'll have to take a bit of time to get used to it. Once I do, I'll be fine.”
Georginio Wijnaldum
£18m
Aleksandar Mitrovic
£16m
Florian Thauvin
£13m
Chancel Mbemba
£10m
Ivan Toney
£300k
What happened to Florian Thauvin?
The French international suffered a torrid time on Tyneside, during his spell there he only made 16 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and providing three assists.
However, specifically in the Premier League Thauvin made 13 appearances and didn’t score any goals or provide any assists, as he scored his only goal and provided his three assists in just one game in the League Cup against Northampton Town.
This shows he failed to provide any goal contributions in his 15 other matches in English football.
Additionally, it also means that in the Premier League, he cost Newcastle £1m per game and was perhaps why he was described by journalist Mark Douglas as being “awful” for Newcastle in 2018.
Thauvin came off the bench in the 69th minute to make his debut against Manchester United during a 0-0 draw.
However, just three league games later the then 22-year-old turned up his side's home match against Watford in a full tuxedo, then embarrassingly they lost the game 2-1.
This prompted Toon legend and Premier League top goalscorer Alan Sheerer to slam the winger on Match of the Day.
He said: "He turns up in a tux. This is a serious business we're in here, it was funny on the first day of the season, it's not funny anymore.
"Look at [Allan] Nyom run past Thauvin. You might be able to do that in the French league, you can't do that in the Premier League."
Thauvin would only make nine appearances, one start and play 164 minutes in the league for the rest of the season before he rejoined Marseille on loan during the January transfer window, only six months after joining Newcastle.
He would eventually join the French side on a permanent transfer during the 2017 summer transfer window for £9m, meaning in only two years Ashley made a £4m loss on him.
After leaving the club Thauvin revealed to Onze Mondial that he felt that he felt his career was over.
He said: “I came home in the evening and told my girlfriend that 'this was it – it was over'.
“I wasn’t playing at Newcastle. I ended up at this club lost, no one talked to me. My phone never rang.
Furthermore, when speaking to UEFA.com he felt that he should never have joined Newcastle in the first place.
He said: "It was too early for me. It's a transfer that happened quickly. Normally, you take your time, you think about it, but for me, it all happened too quickly after [Marseille boss] Marcelo Bielsa's departure."
Frustratingly for Newcastle fans during the 2016/17 season the winger played 38 times for Marseille in the league, scoring 15 goals and registering ten assists, then in the following league season, he went on to make 35 appearances, score 22 goals and provide 11 assists.
Is Florian Thauvin Newcastle's worst signing of all time?
Another failed signing in the underwhelming Ashley era was Spanish striker Xisco, who they signed for £5.7m from Deportivo La Coruna in 2008.
After signing a five-year contract Xisco spent three and a half years on Tyneside, where he made a grand total of 11 appearances – seven of which in the Premier League – and played 441 minutes in all competitions.
However, the striker managed to do something that Thauvin never managed to do, score a goal in the Premier League, and even more amazingly the goal was on his debut.
Speaking on his time with Newcastle to the Chronicle Xisco said:
“When I came here in the first season, it was difficult. We had three or four managers, it was my first season and it wasn’t good.
“It was a bad start in the Premier League for me. Then I went back to Spain every year because I felt comfortable there. They gave me the confidence and the chance to play."
Unfortunately, the Spaniard spent more time in a Newcastle jersey playing for their U21 side, nevertheless his greatest moment for the Magpies happened while playing for the U21s.
During a match in October 2012, Xisco scored a hat-trick during his side's 5-1 win over Stoke City and was given a standing ovation by the 221 fans in attendance as he left the pitch.
Xisco eventually left Newcastle in January 2013 and joined Córdoba in Spain after his contract was terminated with a year left to go.
Although Xisco’s time with Newcastle wasn’t the most spectacular as he cost the Magpies £518k per game, however, it hails in comparison to Thauvin’s, whose £1m per game price tag could be the worst value for money in Newcastle’s history.
