Newcastle United are counting the cost of a transfer that slipped through their fingers before the season even began — and the consequences became painfully clear during Monday's 4-1 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road.

The Magpies had already absorbed the departures of Sandro Tonali and club captain Bruno Guimaraes over the summer, two midfield leaders stripped from the engine room at once. Replacing that kind of quality and authority was always going to be a significant challenge for new manager Matthias Jaissle.

A transfer that nearly happened

Newcastle came agonisingly close to signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Marseille for a reported fee of £15 million — a deal that both clubs reportedly believed would be completed. The Denmark international even had the Marseille captaincy taken away from him in anticipation of his departure, only for Hojbjerg himself to pull the plug at the last moment, choosing to remain in the south of France.

The 31-year-old boasts 145 Premier League appearances across stints with Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, and he would have brought exactly what Newcastle currently lack: experience, physicality, and leadership from the bench when it matters most.

Jaissle's immediate problem

The urgency of that missed signing became evident at Elland Road. Nico Gonzalez, signed from Manchester City and one of Newcastle's few senior central midfield options, was withdrawn after just 18 minutes with a suspected concussion. Sean Steur, a summer arrival from Ajax, came on as a concussion substitute — a promising youngster thrust into a pressurised situation far ahead of schedule.

Gonzalez will now miss Newcastle's next fixture against Hull City under FA concussion protocols, thinning the already stretched midfield further.

Lewis Miley remains a highly regarded presence in the middle, but at 20 years old he is still developing. Aladji Bamba, also 20, is considered by Jaissle himself to not yet be ready for sustained first-team minutes. Joe Willock offers experience, though he has been deployed in a more advanced role under the German head coach.

Steur and Bamba represent exciting long-term investments, but Newcastle's midfield as it currently stands is short on numbers, light on experience, and lacking the commanding leadership that both Guimaraes and Tonali brought to the club. Hojbjerg, even as a squad player, would have been a timely antidote — and his absence is already being felt.