The player left Newcastle United in a £2 million transfer.
Since the Saudi Prince Investment Fund (PIF) took over Newcastle United in 2021, the club has made some fantastic additions.
The Magpies have paid well over £30 million for players such as Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes, both of whom played critical roles in the club’s Champions League victory for the first time in 20 years last season.
Since the entrance of the PIF, the club has spent more than £420 million on players, with the board investing heavily to propel the team ahead and close the gap on major spenders Chelsea and Manchester United.
Under current manager Eddie Howe, the team has progressed from battling relegation to a comfortable top-half Premier League side, with the Magpies’ current position inconceivable just two years ago.
As brilliant as the squad and acquisitions have been, the club may have made a massive error by allowing a teenager to depart St James’ Park in 2018, with the former Magpie now tearing it up in England once again.
Adam Armstrong’s stats at Newcastle United
Adam Armstrong, a Newcastle-born striker, joined the Magpies as a nine-year-old and soon rose 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 Newcastle’s Premier League match against Fulham, becoming the club’s second-youngest Premier League player at the time.
Armstrong would have to wait another nine months for his first top-flight appearance for his hometown club, with the 17-year-old leading the line for Newcastle in a 3-1 loss at Old Trafford.
The striker went on loan to Football League clubs Coventry City and Barnsley, where he impressed, netting 26 goals in two periods away from St James’, but it wasn’t enough to force his way into the first team.
His final game for Newcastle occurred in 2016, followed by two loan spells with Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, with the latter making his move permanent in August 2018 for a cost of around £1.7 million.
Adam Armstrong’s stats since leaving Newcastle United
Armstrong had a good start to life in the Championship with Blackburn during the 2018/19 season, scoring five goals and assisting five in 44 league games – a respectable output for a 21-year-old in his first full season in England’s second division.
Armstrong, a former Newcastle teenager, never looked back after his first season at Ewood Park, scoring 16 goals in 46 games to finish joint-sixth in the league.
Despite his great goalscoring record in 2019/20, the 2020/21 season piqued the interest of several Premier League clubs, with Armstrong in high demand.
His 28 Championship goals that season, which were only surpassed by another former Newcastle youth, Ivan Toney, prompted Southampton to pay £15 million for his services, bringing Armstrong back to the Premier League just three years after leaving St James’ Park permanently.
It’s easy to say he failed to adjust to the demands of the Premier League during his first two seasons at St Mary’s, scoring only four goals in 53 top-flight games.
However, following relegation at the end of last season, the now 27-year-old is full of confidence and appears to be an entirely different prospect.
This season, in 35 Championship games under Russell Martin, the striker has 17 goals and 11 assists for his teammates, giving Armstrong the most combined goals and assists of anyone in the Championship with 28.
Although current Magpies attackers Isak and Callum Wilson are having successful goalscoring seasons for Howe’s team, their tally of 11 and eight goals, respectively, is far behind Armstrong’s score of 17 – albeit in a higher-level competition.
With Wilson at 32 and struggling with injuries, the club may regret letting Armstrong go at such an early age. The striker, 27, is set to enter his prime and is currently in the best shape of his life.
The 5’8 forward’s contributions at Southampton have not gone unnoticed, and he is almost certain to play Premier League football again next season, regardless of whether the Saints are able to achieve an immediate return to the top division following their relegation last season.
