New kids on the block: Sportsmail analyses the key men at Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield ahead of the new Premier League season

  • Sportsmail takes a in-depth look at the Premier League's three newcomers
  • Newcastle United will be looking to reestablish themselves as a top flight club
  • Brighton enter a new era with Chris Hughton but face a battle to stay put
  • David Wagner will be hoping to continue his magic in England's elite division 

The new Premier League season is underway and attention will quickly turn to the six-way fight for the title that every respectable pundit seems to have predicted.

But while Manchester City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham all will keep the majority of fans focused at the top end of the table, the League's newcomers will be happy just to stay out of the bottom three.

Here, Sportsmail analyses the key men at Newcastle United, Huddersfield and Brighton and questions whether they have what it takes to become Premier League mainstays.

Newcastle United will go into the new season as Championship title winners

Newcastle United will go into the new season as Championship title winners

 

Newcastle United


Manager: Rafael Benitez

Benitez took over the reins at St James’ Park in March 2016 with the club in the midst of a relegation battle. Despite a six-match unbeaten run at the end of the season, which included a 5-1 win at home against Tottenham, the Spaniard was unable to reverse the damage done under Steve McClaren. 

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager faced a tough decision over whether to leave the club, but decided against taking up the option given to him by the relegation release clause in his contract.

Benitez’s decision looks to have been the right one, guiding the Magpies back into the Premier League at the first attempt. Thanks to a dodgy end to the season from rivals Brighton, Newcastle were promoted back into the top flight as champions of the Championship.

Rafa Benitez has made his frustrations clear when it comes to the lack of transfer activity

Rafa Benitez has made his frustrations clear when it comes to the lack of transfer activity

Last Season’s Key Men

Dwight Gayle will be hoping he can make the impact in the Premier League that he first dreamed of when he completed his £8million move from Peterborough to Crystal Palace. 

Despite some memorable moments at Selhurst Park, including his famous equaliser in their 3-3 draw with Liverpool in 2013-14, he failed to hold down a first-team spot in Alan Pardew’s side. 

He was Newcastle’s key man last year, finishing as the second-top goalscorer in the division with 23 goals, despite missing a large portion through injury.

Matt Ritchie made the irregular move of dropping down a division to join Newcastle from Bournemouth, but his decision has been vindicated by both his own and his team’s performance in the Championship. He chipped in with 12 goals and seven assists from midfield last season.

Jonjo Shelvey signed for Newcastle in the January transfer window of the 2015-16 Premier League season, and while he was unable to help keep them in the division, he certainly played a big role in getting them back into the top flight of English football. 

The former Liverpool and Swansea midfielder will be hoping that he can earn an England call-up with some impressive performances in the black and white of Newcastle this season.

Dwight Gayle will be hoping to prove himself in the Premier League after a good season

Dwight Gayle will be hoping to prove himself in the Premier League after a good season

Transfers

Benitez’s frustration at the club’s inability to get transfer targets through the door has been well documented, but the Magpies have added to the squad that got promoted last season. 

Florian Lejeune, who was once on the books at Manchester City, has joined from Eibar, while Jacob Murray completed his £10.2m transfer from Norwich after impressing in last season’s Championship. 

Christian Atsu made his loan move from Chelsea permanent after his influential role last season, and he’s also been joined by defensive reinforcements in the shape of Javier Manquillo and Mikel Merino.

Expectations

Despite the high expectations placed upon any manager of Newcastle United, their fans may have to be realistic this year. Benitez’s evident frustration at the ability of his squad does not bode well for the season ahead, and so a mid-table finish is probably the most likely outcome.

Brighton and Hove Albion

Manager: Chris Hughton

Hughton will be a familiar name for most fans of English football, having managed Newcastle United and Norwich City in the Premier League, although he’ll be hoping that he’ll fare better this time around. 

He was sacked, rather harshly, from Newcastle and parted company with Norwich after the club drifted to 17th place in the League.

Hughton has done stellar work at Brighton, however, since his appointment at the end of 2014. After saving the club from relegation to League One during his first six months, he came very close to getting them promoted in the 2015-16 season. 

The Seagulls missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference, before being knocked out of the play-offs by Sheffield Wednesday. 

They managed to right that wrong the following season and would have finished as champions of the division had it not been for a couple of slip-ups at the end and a very strong Newcastle side.

Chris Hughton will need to keep his men from the late dip that saw them lose the title

Chris Hughton will need to keep his men from the late dip that saw them lose the title

Last Season’s Key Men

Anthony Knockaert made the headlines for all the wrong reasons after his penalty miss for Leicester City at Vicarage Road in the 2012-2013 play-offs, but last season he was superb for Brighton. The Belgian’s 15 goals and eight assists from the wing saw him named in the PFA Championship Team of the Season.

Glenn Murray is yet another player who has not quite made the desired impact in the Premier League as of yet, but his 23 goals in 39 starts last season suggests that he will be a threat to any side he faces.

Lewis Dunk has been at Brighton since 2010, and the centre-half has continued to rise and rise. He’s one of Brighton’s most consistent performers and played a major part in them finishing last season with the joint-least goals conceded in the Championship. 

It will be interesting to see how he fares against some of the Premier League’s best strikers.

Anthony Knockaert was named in the Championship Team of the Season last term

Anthony Knockaert was named in the Championship Team of the Season last term

Transfers

Prior to this week, it looked as if Brighton would largely be counting on last season’s squad to deliver the goods. Goalkeeper Matthew Ryan joined from Valencia while Pascal Gross and Markus Suttner both joined from FC Ingolstadt in Germany. 

In the past few days, however, Brighton have been splashing the cash. PSV’s highly rated midfielder Davy Propper put pen to paper in a deal worth £11.2m, while they have agreed a club-record £13.5m deal with Club Brugge for Colombian winger Jose Izquierdo. 

Chelsea’s young striker Isaiah Brown has also joined to add depth in attack.

Expectations

Hughton has faith in his squad but will be eager to not set expectations too high. The first season in the Premier League is always a challenging one, and he will be happy if his side avoids relegation.

Huddersfield Town

Manager: David Wagner

Huddersfield appointed David Wagner back in November 2015 as a replacement for the departed Chris Powell. He took over with the club in 18th place and as one of the favourites for relegation. Similarly to Hughton, he managed to keep his club in the division against the odds.

Once again, Huddersfield were one of the favourites for relegation at the start of the 2016/17 season but started the campaign in fine style with five wins from their opening six games. 

David Wagner’s work did not go unnoticed and he was offered the vacant manager’s job at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. He chose to reject it and carry on his project at Huddersfield – what a decision that turned out to be. 

While their season tailed off towards the end, they comfortably made the play-offs, finishing in fifth place. Their play-off fixtures were scrappy affairs, but they came through both on penalties and David Wagner had masterminded their return to the England’s top flight for the first time since 1972.

David Wagner is a a cult figure at Huddersfield Town but can he keep producing the magic?

David Wagner is a a cult figure at Huddersfield Town but can he keep producing the magic?

Last Season’s Key Men

Aaron Mooy joined on loan from Manchester City at the start of last season after he was signed by the Blues from their partner club Melbourne City. When Huddersfield fans asked City supporters for their opinion of Mooy, they were unable to give one having never seen him play. 

Whether or not he would be a success was anyone’s guess. Thankfully for the Terriers, he was most definitely a success. Mooy is another player who made it in to the PFA’s Championship Team of the Season thanks to his marauding performances in the centre of midfield.

Nakhi Wells is another name that will sound familiar. Most notable for his exploits in Bradford City’s famous cup run back in the 2012-13 season, Wells has quietly climbed his way up the Football League ladder, helping Huddersfield to this promotion by contributing 10 goals.

Elias Kachunga was the only Huddersfield player to score more goals (12) and win more Man of the Match awards (4) than Wells. Kachunga, a winger, is from Germany but represents the Democratic Republic of Congo at international level.

Aaron Mooy is another player who made it in to the PFA’s Championship Team of the Season

Aaron Mooy is another player who made it in to the PFA’s Championship Team of the Season

Transfers

Huddersfield broke their club-record fee to sign Porto’s Laurent Depoitre for approximately £3.6m. That was until Mooy’s loan from Manchester City was unsurprisingly made permanent, with the Australian joining for a new club-record fee of £8.2m. 

Tom Ince joined at a similar cost, before Huddersfield broke their transfer record AGAIN to sign Steve Mounie from Montpellier for £11.7m. Scott Malone, Zanka, Danny Williams, Kasey Palmer and Jonas Lossl also joined in what has been a very busy window for the Terriers.

Expectations

Once again, Huddersfield fans will have to be a realistic and the majority would be delighted if they were able to keep their place in the Premier League. 

A lot will depend on how their new signings adapt to the division, but at this point, they have to be one of the favourites for the drop. Perhaps David Wagner can beat the odds yet again. 

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