If Newcastle’s second-most expensive signing Anthony Gordon starts as a substitute against West Ham on Saturday, he should not be too upset. For he might be sitting on the most valuable bench in the history of North East football.
Only Alexander Isak has cost United more than the reported £45m they have paid for Gordon. But, assuming Eddie Howe sticks to his recent script and refuses to change a winning team, he will have an unprecedented embarrassment of riches to choose from among his substitutes.
The Magpies will, of course, have to make one change today, with Bruno Guimaraes suspended for three matches following his red card against Southampton in midweek.
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Data website transfermarkt.co.uk valued the Magpies’ substitutes in the 0-0 Premier League stalemate against Crystal Palace on January 21 at €119.8million.
Add Gordon to record signing Isak and French flier Allan Saint-Maximin this weekend, and Transfermarkt will value the bench against the Hammers at almost an extra €40m on top of that. If Howe replaces Elliot Anderson (valued only at €3.5m) with Gordon, that bench value will rise to a value of €156.3m - easily the most in Newcastles history. Anderson, of course, could well start today's game.
But how does that compare against other top English clubs’ benches? Here, we rank the value of the English “big six” teams’ subs benches from their most recent Premier League matches.
Manchester City - €385m
The Citizens’ star-studded bench comfortably tops the list. Last time out at Wolves they fielded superstars such as Ruben Dias (€75m), Bernardo Silva (€80m) and Joao Cancelo (€70m) among their subs. Making up the rest of their replacement options were Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Kalvin Phillips, Cole Palmer and Julian Alvarez.
Liverpool - €284m
Liverpool had a strong bench at their disposal against Chelsea last time out. Darwin Nunez (€70m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (€70m) and Fabinho (€55m) were The Reds’ three most valuable substitutes. The other names were Caoimhin Kelleher, Konstantinos Tsimikas, Joel Matip, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones.
Arsenal - €193m
The league leaders come third on the list, with their bench including Emile Smith Rowe (€38m), Kieran Tierney (€30m) and new signing Leandro Trossard (€30m). Matt Turner, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Marquinhos were the other benched players as Arsenal ran out 3-2 winners against Manchester United.
Tottenham Hotspur - €183.5m
Antonio Conte had €183.5m at his disposal on the bench to turn his side’s fortunes around against high-flying Fulham. Richarlison (€55m) and Yves Bissouma (€22m) came on, while Davinson Sanchez (€25m) was unused as Spurs ground out a 1-0 victory. Conte also named Fraser Forster, Matt Doherty, Japhet Tanganga, Clement Lenglet, Oliver Skipp and Ryan Sessegnon on the bench.
Newcastle United - €156.3m
Assuming Gordon doesn’t immediately get his chance in the starting line-up, Eddie Howe has a lot of talent waiting for their chance. The two other most-valuable names, Isak (€50m) and Saint-Maximin (€40m) have recently recovered from long-lasting injuries. Against Crystal Palace, Martin Dubravka, Jamaal Lascelles, Jamal Lewis, Javier Manquillo, Matt Ritchie, Jacob Murphy, as well as youngster Anderson made up the bench.
Chelsea - €144m
Although he was recently signed for an eye-watering €100m from Shakhtar Donetsk, Transfermarkt only values Mykhailo Mudryk at €40m. Despite this, Kalidou Koulibaly (€35m) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (€25m) combine to give Chelsea the second-least expensive bench on this list. Marcus Bettinelli, Cesar Azpilicueta, Bashir Humphreys, Carney Chukwuemeka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and David Datro Fofana were head coach Graham Potter’s remaining substitutes.
Manchester United - €120m
It might be a surprise that the Red Devils finish bottom of the list. But even big names like Harry Maguire (€30m), Tyrell Malacia (€25m) and Fred (€20m) couldn’t propel their combined bench value above any of the top Premier League sides. Erik ten Hag otherwise had Tom Heaton, Victor Lindelof, Facundo Pellistri, Kobbie Mainoo, Anthony Elanga and Alejandro Garnacho for replacements at his disposal against Arsenal.
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