Newcastle United supporters got to see their first glimpses of new signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo in the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at St. James’ Park on Saturday.
The Magpies officially sealed the £51m signing of the versatile Belgian attacker at the end of August, as Nick Woltemade left to sign for Juventus on loan.
Fernandez-Pardo came on for the final 27 minutes of the 2-2 draw with the Cherries in the Premier League and caught the eye with several impressive touches, earning a player rating of 7/10.
The 21-year-old talent will now be looking to kick on and show that he has the ability to deliver goals and assists on a regular basis for the Magpies, to prove that he can turn excitement into tangible impact.
The biggest obstacle facing Fernandez-Pardo at Newcastle
The biggest obstacle between the Spanish attacker and becoming a star at St. James’ Park is his own consistency in the final third, based on his form for Lille last term.
He won two of his three duels and completed 100% of his attempted dribbles in the draw with Bournemouth on his Premier League debut, but he did not take a shot or create a chance for his teammates in his time on the pitch.
The Belgium international’s performances in Ligue 1 for Lille in the 2025/26 campaign suggest that the attacker still has a way to go before he can be considered a consistent performer in front of goal.
|
25/26 Ligue 1 |
Matias Fernandez-Pardo |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
29 |
|
xG |
8.82 |
|
Big chances missed |
15 |
|
Goals |
8 |
|
Conversion rate |
12% |
|
Big chances created |
5 |
|
Assists |
5 |
Fernandez-Pardo missed 15 ‘big chances’ on his way to scoring eight times in the French top-flight, which suggests that Newcastle should not expect him to be a clinical finisher in the short-term.
Whilst he is an exciting young talent, at the age of 21, it is down to the Belgian gem to show that he can improve and develop his play in the final third, to make himself a reliable forward option for Matthias Jaissle.
Newcastle already have a more exciting talent than Fernandez-Pardo
Fernandez-Pardo is not the only exciting young talent at St. James’ Park, though, as another one of the club’s summer signings looks like an even more exciting prospect for the manager.
Newcastle splashed out a fee of £23m to sign central midfielder Sean Steur from Ajax after they had sanctioned the £100m sale of Sandro Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur.
The 18-year-old talent already played 26 times for Ajax’s first-team and been capped by the Netherlands before his big-money move to Tyneside, and looks to have maturity that belies his years on the pitch.
Watching Steur with the ball at his feet, you would not be able to tell that he is an 18-year-old midfielder who has less than 50 senior appearances under his belt in his career.
The Dutchman is a technical wizard in possession and already looks incredibly comfortable with the ball at his feet in the Premier League, completing 82% of his passes across his first three Premier League games.
He put on a passing clinic in the team’s 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup last month, as he completed 62 of his 65 attempted passes, including 31 of his 34 passes in the opposition’s half.
His quality in possession should not come as a huge surprise, though, as he came through the Ajax academy and is from a footballing nation renowned for their silky style of play.
U23 scout Antonio Mango once described him as “a pure joy to watch” on the pitch, and his form for Ajax in the Eredivisie suggests that could soon be the case for Magpies supporters.
|
25/26 Eredivisie |
Sean Steur |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
19 |
|
Pass accuracy |
90% |
|
Pass accuracy in own half |
92% |
|
Long pass accuracy |
79% |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
1.5 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
57% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
56% |
Steur combined metronomic midfield play with physicality in duels on the ground and in the air once he got a run in the first-team with the Dutch giants, which shows that he has the potential to deliver complete midfield performances on and off the ball.
Whilst Fernandez-Pardo still has plenty of areas of his game that need to be developed, the Netherlands U19 international looks ready to make a consistent impact on the pitch once he has settled into life in the Premier League.
At the age of 18, three years younger than the Belgian striker, Steur looks to have even more potential and is an even more exciting talent for Jaissle to develop.
