On 1 July 2014, Newcastle United completed the signing of Siem de Jong from Ajax on a six-year deal.
The attacker had been earning a growing reputation within the Eredivisie with his performances for the Amsterdam outfit and many were delighted with the decision by Alan Pardew to bring him to St James’ Park.
Arriving for a fee of around £7.83million, per Transfermarkt, many of the Toon Army appeared to be expecting great things from him.
Here were some of their initial Twitter reactions…
Credit where it's due, well done #nufc #SiemDeJong
— Brian Nicholson (@M7BCN) July 1, 2014
https://twitter.com/NickJ_95/status/484101919141818368
Siem de Jong new club captain, I can see it now #nufc
— ROSS MACK💚 (@RMACKK28) July 1, 2014
@NUFC @siemdejong #WelkomSiem A cracking addition to our squad, will fit in nicely too, can't wait to see him in action.
— Adam. (@adamnufc_) July 1, 2014
@NUFC @siemdejong Fantastic signing with a quality pedigree, will add goals to the team. Very happy with Siem joining! #WelkomSiem
— Ryan (@_RyanBatey) July 1, 2014
https://twitter.com/NewcastleStats/status/484099549527810049
@NUFC @siemdejong Brilliant signing. A leader, a goalscorer and a good midfielder. GET IN!!!! #NUFC #WelkomSiem
— Mark Ooi (@MarkOoiZW) July 1, 2014
However, things did not go as well as they would have been expecting or as they would have liked.
Despite being named vice-captain almost immediately after he arrived, De Jong failed to make a real impact with The Magpies.
He was hit with a thigh injury that made him miss a number of months of action and then suffered a further setback with a collapsed lung.
Making just 22 appearances during his time with Newcastle, he scored just once before being shipped back out to the Eredivisie and joining PSV Eindhoven.
Things did not improve too much further for the player as he made a return to Ajax before being loaned out to Australia’s Sydney FC, where he is currently playing his football.
For a player that many at Newcastle had expected big things from, De Jong will have gone down as just another one of their big flops.
Newcastle fans – thoughts?
