As good as the squad and recruitment have been, the club may have made a huge mistake in letting a youngster leave St James’ Park in 2018, with the former Magpie currently tearing it up in England once again.

Adam Armstrong’s stats at Newcastle United

Striker Adam Armstrong joined the Magpies as a youngster, with the Newcastle-born forward arriving at the club as a nine-year-old before quickly developing through the ranks at St James’ Park.

He eventually made his first-team debut for the Magpies in 2014, replacing Luuk De Jong in the 86th minute of the Premier League encounter against Fulham – making him Newcastle’s second-youngest Premier League player at the time.

Armstrong would have to wait another nine months before his first top-flight start for his boyhood club, with the then 17-year-old leading the line for Newcastle in the 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford.

The striker had multiple loans to Football League sides such as Coventry City and Barnsley, impressing in both, scoring 26 goals over the two spells away from St James’, but it wasn’t enough to force himself into the first-team picture.

His last appearance for Newcastle came in 2016, before two more loan spells at Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers before the latter made his move permanent in August 2018 for a fee in the region of £1.7m.

Adam Armstrong’s stats since leaving Newcastle United

Armstrong enjoyed a steady start to life in the Championship with Blackburn during the 2018/19 season, scoring five and assisting five in his 44 league appearances – a fair return for a 21-year-old in his first full season in England’s second tier.

After his first campaign at Ewood Park, the former Newcastle youngster never looked back, scoring 16 times in 46 games – with Armstrong the joint-sixth top scorer in the division.

However, despite his impressive goalscoring record in 2019/20, it was the 2020/21 season that caught the eye of multiple Premier League sides, with Armstrong a man in demand.

His tally of 28 Championship goals that season, a tally only bettered by another former Newcastle youngster in Ivan Toney, saw Southampton fork out £15m for his signature – with Armstrong finally back in the Premier League just three years after his permanent departure from St James’ Park.

It’s safe to say he struggled to adapt to the demands of the Premier League during his first two campaigns at St Mary’s with the striker only managing to find the net four times in his 53 top-flight appearances for the Saints.

However, after relegation at the end of last season, the now 27-year-old is brimming with confidence and looking like a completely different prospect.

In his 35 Championship games under Russell Martin this season, the striker has scored 17 times whilst laying on 11 assists for his teammates – with Armstrong currently having the most combined goals and assists of anyone in the Championship this season with 28.

Although current Magpies strikers Isak and Callum Wilson are enjoying fine goalscoring campaigns for Howe’s side, the pair’s tally of 11 and eight goals respectively is way off Armstrong’s tally of 17 – albeit in a higher-quality division.

With Wilson now aged 32 and struggling with injuries, the club might regret getting rid of Armstrong at such a young age. The striker is about to enter his prime, with the 27-year-old currently in the form of his life.

The 5 foot 8 forward’s contributions at Southampton haven’t gone unnoticed, with the striker almost guaranteed to be playing Premier League football once again next season, regardless of whether the Saints manage to secure an immediate return to the top flight after last season’s relegation.