Where will Newcastle United be in ten years time? Who they will sign and how club progress - according to FM22

Big things are expected from Newcastle United over the next decade as the clubs looks to make the most of the massive cash injection their new owners are expected to provide.

Just how far can they go and how long will it be before we see the club rubbing shoulders with Europe’s elite in the Champions League and challenging for the Premier League title? What global superstars will the club be able to attract and what manager will lead them to success?

Using the beta version of Football Manager 22, the latest latest instalment of the Football Manager game series, we decided to take a look.

The football management simulation game has been wildly popular since it’s initial release in 1992 and is now played by football fans and professional players alike.

‘FM’ is also used as a player database by football clubs due to their worldwide scouting network of around 1,300 scouts which developers use to ensure full accuracy across the game.

We decided to simulate TEN YEARS into the future to see if Newcastle could live up to their potential and here are the results broken down season by season:

Season 2021/22

• Manager: Unai Emery
• Final league position: 16th
• FA Cup: Third Round
• Carabao Cup: Second Round
• Top scorer: Allan Saint-Maximin - 8
• Biggest transfer fee: Alexander Isak (£60 million from Real Sociedad)

In a move that could be replicated in the real world, Unai Emery was brought in as the club’s manager but the Spaniard was unable to turn their fortunes around.

A 16th place league finish was enough to avoid relegation at least and there was not much to shout about in the cup competitions either.

Swedish striker Alexander Isak was brought in for a massive fee in January and netted five times in the second half of the campaign.

After a season without any success, Emery was sacked in May - just 228 days after his appointment.

Season 2022/23

• Manager: Jorge Sampaoli
• Final league posistion: 8th
• FA Cup: Third Round
• Carabao Cup: Third Round
• Top scorer: Alexander Isak (18)
• Biggest transfer fee: Yves Bissouma (£43 million from Brighton)

Veteran manager Jorge Sampaoli, who has previously been in charge of Marseille, Sevilla, and the Argentina national men’s team was brought in to take over from Emery.

The club were much more prominent under the Argentinian and finished the season in eighth place with a squad which included the likes of Nicolas Otamendi, Lewis Dunk, Juan Bernat and Yves Bissouma.

The cup competitions remained a disappointment though after to Arsenal in the third round of the Carabao Cup and on penalties to Crystal Palace at the same stage of the FA Cup.

Season 2023/24

• Manager: Jorge Sampaoli/Jose Mourinho
• Final league position: 8th
• FA Cup: Fourth Round
• Carabao Cup: Quarter Finals
• Top scorer: Alexander Isak (20)
• Biggest transfer fee: £51 million (Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich)

Newcastle started the 2023/24 Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Liverpool at St James’ Park and lost just two of their first eight league games - away to Manchester City and Chelsea.

The wheels came off with a 2-0 defeat to Norwich City at Carrow Road which started a run of seven games without a win.

That poor run came to an end with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa before another winless run this time lasting six games which included their elimination from the Carabao Cup by Chelsea.

Sampaoli was sacked on New Year’s Day and replaced by Jose Mourinho but there form was erratic after January and they only managed another eighth place finish.

Allan Saint-Maximin beat the likes of 20 goal Alexander Isak, Alexis Saelemaekers and Juan Bernat to the club’s player of the season award.

2024/25 season

• Manager: Jose Mourinho/Roberto De Zerbi
• Final league position: 9th
• FA Cup: Quarter Finals
• Carabao Cup: Third Round
• Top scorer: Gabriel Barbosa (11)
• Biggest transfer fee: Javi Galan (£55 million from Celta Vigo)

Things didn’t look like they were getting any better in the first half of the 2024/25 season as Newcastle United’s form remained as erratic as it had the previous campaign.

Mourinho was sacked in December and replaced by Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi who was with Lazio after leaving Shakhtar Donetsk.

Results were much improved in the second half and lost just one out of ten matches in January and February - a 2-1 away defeat to Manchester City.

Cup success eluded them once again and they only managed an eventual ninth place finish in the league, down one on the previous two seasons.

Alexander Isak managed only half of his previous season’s goal total with ten but Brazillian attacker Gabriel Barbosa, signed from Flamengo for £14 million in the summer, chipped in with 11 to finish as the club’s top scorer.

2025/26 Season

• Manager: Roberto De Zerbi
• Final league position: 7th
• FA Cup: Quarter Finals
• Carabao Cup: Third Round
• Top scorer: Alexander Isak (20)
• Biggest transfer fee: Rodri (£55 million from Everton)

Newcastle were very much all or nothing in the first half of the 2025/26 Premier League season as they went all the way to December 17 without drawing a league match.

They won ten, lost nine and drew once in their first 19 matches.

They were consistent if nothing else in the second half of the season as they won seven, lost eight and drew four for a final league position of seventh.

Alexander Isak was back in double figures with another 20 goal season but Saint-Maximin once again beat him to the club’s player of the season award.

2026/27 season

• Manager: Roberto De Zerbi/Raul Valbuena
• Final league position: 8th
• FA Cup: Fifth Round
• Carabao Cup: Third Round
• Top scorer: Alexander Isak (15)
• Biggest transfer fee: £43 million (Andre Almeeida from Watford)

Newcastle had won just three Premier League matches from 11 when De Zerbi was sacked and replaced with Raul Valbuena, the former Real Madrid keeper who had been manager of Villareal in our simulation.

Following a pattern on previous seasons, results picked up under the new manager but consistency eluded them and they only managed an eighth place finish.

Alexander Isak scored five less goals than the previous season but still finished as the club’s top scorer and Gabriel Barbosa chipped in with 11 to win the club’s player of the year award.

2027/28 season

• Manager: Raul Valbuena/Ramon Tejada
• Final league position: 9th
• FA Cup: Fifth Round
• Carabao Cup: Second Round
• Top scorer: Alexander Isak (15)
• Biggest transfer fee: Fabio Vieira (££37 million from Tottenham)

The all to familiar pattern of a poor first half of the season, sacking the manager and then an improved but inconsistent second half of the season continued as did the disappointment of early elimination from the cup competitions.

Valbuena’s 301 days in charge was the least of any Newcastle manager in our simulation since Unai Emery and was 20 days less than Jose Mourinho lasted.

Ramon Tejada will be an unfamiliar name to even those with a greater knowledge of Spanish football, currently operating as the chief scout for Segunda División side Huesca, but our simulation had him lead Napoli to the Europa League final as head coach before taking the Newcastle job.

Once again, Isak was the club’s top scorer with another 15 goal total as the club finished ninth in the Premier League.

2028/29 season

• Manager: Ramon Tejada
• Final league position: 10th
• FA Cup: Fourth Round
• Carabao Cup: Quarter Finals
• Top scorer: Alexander Isak (21)
• Biggest transfer fee: Bruno Rodrigo (£17 million from Lazio)

Newcastle United lost just eight league matches in the 2028/29 season and only champions Arsenal (four), runners-up Chelsea (six) and fourth placed Manchester United (five) lost less.

However, the club drew a staggering 17 league matches in the season for an eventual finish of tenth place.

Despite a gradual decline in position from the previous seasons and continued failure to reach the latter stages of the cup competitions - the board opted to stick with Tejada throughout the season perhaps due to how few matches they were actually losing.

Alexander Isak’s 21 goals was his highest total in a single season since signing for the club.

2029/30

• Manager: Ramon Tejada
• Final league position: 9th
• FA Cup: Third Round
• Carabao Cup: Quarter Finals
• Top Scorer: Alexander Isak (21)
• Biggest transfer fee: James Justin (£22 million from Manchester City)

After becoming experts in drawing matches the previous season, Newcastle didn’t share the points in any fixtures in the 2029/30 season until October - losing four and winning two of their opening six.

The club’s form picked up in November and December, which is probably how Tejada held onto his job during the period where they’ve been most inclined to sack managers during our simulation, but still only managed a final league position of ninth.

Isak equalled his goals total from the previous season while Allan Saint-Maximin failed to make the club’s best overall XI for the first time in his tenth and final season at St James’ Park.

2030/31

• Manager Ramon Tejada
• Final League position: 5th
• FA Cup: Fifth Round
• Carabao Cup: Second Round
• Top Scorer: Alexander Isak (21)
• Biggest transfer fee: Maximillian Wöber (£8.5 million from Borussia M’gladbach)

Spending was down under Tejada but the Spaniard had successfully built a squad which won 14 and drew two of their opening 19 matches losing only to Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham away.

The second half of the season was far less consistent but the club managed a fifth place finish however, the defeat to Tottenahm early in the campaign proved crucial as they finished three points behind Spurs in fourth with a better goal difference - meaning a reverse of that result would have secured Champions League football.

Alexander Isak netted another 21 goals, bringing his total for the club to 147 Premier League goals in 324 matches and 166 in all competitions for the club.

Isak’s £60 million transfer fee remained a club record and silverware eluded the club throughout the decade as they failed to reach even a semi-final in either the FA Cup or Carabao Cup.