It was a very different deadline day for Newcastle United. It was a very different transfer window full stop as the club actually showed some ambition.
Last summer's deadline day was a non-event - as was so often the case in the Ashley era - and the Magpies briefed that they had no plans to make any further signings at 10.50am on August 31. Even signing Hamza Choudhury on loan was a bridge too far and Joe Willock was, ultimately, the only addition Newcastle made in either window in 2021.
In contrast, by 10.50am on Monday, Newcastle's new owners were closing deals for Dan Burn and Matt Targett and attempting to sign an attacker after already bringing in Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood earlier in the window.
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Newcastle ultimately failed to resurrect moves for Hugo Ekitike and Jesse Lingard on deadline day, and the Magpies also missed out on top defensive targets Sven Botman and Diego Carlos during the course of a challenging window, but the club's renewed intent cannot be questioned.
Having not originally planned to invest huge sums in the mid-season window, the new owners splashed out around £90m - more than any other club in world football. Crucially, the hierarchy look to have made that leaky defence stronger - even if Newcastle still look a little light in the final third.
Most importantly, Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Jamie Reuben have understood the need to bring in the right signings and it is not a coincidence that all bar one of the new arrivals already have vast experience of playing in the Premier League.
Intermediaries and agents have floated an endless list of big-name imports to the club's owners since the takeover was completed last October, but bringing in the right characters was crucial and Eddie Howe and the recruitment team were in agreement on that.
Anton Robinson, who played under Howe before later becoming his recruitment consultant at Bournemouth, is well-placed to comment on how the Newcastle boss is 'very demanding of his players but even more demanding of his staff'.
"Every successful team has to believe in the common goal and Eddie is very shrewd in terms of who he would want to come in the building," he told ChronicleLive.
"Not disrupting the harmony in the group is the most important thing that Eddie wants to get right."
It is one thing strengthening the squad but actually bringing in characters who are up the fight, after leaving comfortable positions at their respective clubs, is an added bonus.
Lingard would certainly have enhanced that dressing room - the England international was said to be 'gutted' to miss out on the move - and it is easy to see why Newcastle never truly walked away from the deal despite Manchester United's eye-watering demands.
Lingard's goals, alone, helped West Ham claim 10 points during his loan spell at the London Stadium in the second half of last season.
Clearly, the coaching staff, recruitment team and ownership group recognised that goal-shy Newcastle needed an additional spark in attack, particularly in the absence of Callum Wilson, and the Magpies will have to count on some familiar names to step up in the coming weeks.
Wilson looks set to potentially miss the crucial upcoming games against Everton, Aston Villa, West Ham and Brentford so it will fall to others to support mid-season signing Chris Wood up front.
Allan Saint-Maximin, who has five goals to his name this season, can certainly do that but Jonjo Shelvey is the only midfielder to have scored on more than one occasion for Newcastle this season.
Howe will hope that his other signings - Trippier, Targett and, particularly, Guimaraes - will at least help to create more chances.
Outsiders may have felt Newcastle had plenty of options at full-back, but the Magpies were fielding converted wingers Matt Ritchie and Jacob Murphy at left-back and right-back respectively against champions Man City six weeks ago.
Howe quickly identified those positions as areas he wanted to strengthen and the Newcastle head coach brought in Trippier and Targett who, crucially, can both hit the ground running in a league and position they have played in before.
Targett has worked on the defensive side of his game - the left-back was voted Aston Villa's players' player of the year last season - and his ability to pick a pass will be welcomed by Howe.
Off the field, too, the 26-year-old is the sort of unassuming, coachable character Howe will relish working with.
Perhaps it said it all that Targett was back home in Eastleigh with his family, including cousin Brian Howard, who is actually a former team-mate of Howe's, when he was informed Newcastle and Villa had agreed a loan deal.
"Matt's just a down to earth lad. He's got his fiancée and is a very settled, humble, family guy," Howard told ChronicleLive.
"He likes to play golf on his days off and I'd imagine the local golfers will see him out on a course up there soon. That's about it, really! He goes to work, gets his head down, trains hard and works hard."
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