Alexander Isak had just opened the scoring against Wolves when a familiar refrain rippled through St James' Park.
"We've got Bruno in the middle," Newcastle United supporters roared. "He knows exactly what we need. Botman at the back, Isak in attack, Newcastle's gonna win the Premier League!"
It's a chant we have all heard hundreds of times before - that is a conservative estimate by the way - but it felt different on Sunday. Remarkably, the 2-1 win against Wolves was the first time the trio started a game together for Newcastle.
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It felt like a glimpse of Newcastle's bright future as the three poster boys of this new era lined up together. Not only are these individuals who can help get Newcastle into Europe - they will be part of the spine who will challenge for trophies in the years to come.
Having first been identified as signings who could grow with the club, when Newcastle spent an estimated £140m on these overseas imports in 2022, Isak, Bruno and Botman now serve as the template for the players the club want to sign this summer and beyond.
"They're all young players and really talented young players, so that is the type of future that we want," Howe told reporters. "We want good technical players with athletic profiles to hopefully take the team forward, so we're really pleased with the contribution of all those players."
It is easy to forget that Bruno (25), Botman (23) and Isak (23) still have their best years ahead of them and, clearly, there is still so much more to come from the trio and the team as a whole. In fact, of those Newcastle players who started against Wolves, six were aged 26 and under, including Joe Willock, who looked back to his best on Sunday. Had Anthony Gordon (21) been fit, the average age of the side would have dropped even further.
These players have earned Howe's trust and if Botman and Bruno were already among the first names on the team sheet, Isak took a step towards joining that select group against Wolves. It was just Isak's sixth league start, but it is hard to see the record signing coming out of the team anytime soon after he got the nod ahead of Callum Wilson for the first time.
Wilson may have missed training earlier this week because of illness, which influenced Howe's decision, but the number nine knows he now faces a real fight to start games for Newcastle when fit for perhaps the first time since joining the club in 2019. As much as that will push Wilson on to recapture the form that saw him score six goals in 11 games before the World Cup, it also serves as a reminder to Isak that he will have to keep performing to keep his place, too. That is saying something when Isak has already averaged a goal every 133 minutes in the Premier League this season.
Isak's latest goal was a typical centre forward's header on an evening the record signing looked every inch a swaggering striker as he whipped up the crowd. Yet it was not just Isak's goal that caught the eye; the Sweden international made nine passes in the final third, won seven duels and completed five dribbles. Off the ball, too, Isak led the press and ran the channels and, in the words of Howe, ran himself 'into the ground' until he could 'no longer run’. It felt like a sign of things to come.
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