Newcastle United had not played a game under their new ownership group last October when Amanda Staveley confirmed a desire to win the Premier League on Tyneside.
"We have the same ambitions as PSG and Manchester City in terms of trophies," the co-owner added.
Newcastle were winless and in the bottom three, where they would remain until February, so this seemed an optimistic target, even given the wealth of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
The Magpies are highly unlikely to challenge City for their title this season either, but they are at least looking up now.
From the date of the takeover until the end of the season, Newcastle earned the sixth-most points in the division (46); in 2022, they have earned the fourth-most (38); in points-per-game terms, Eddie Howe's men are third for the calendar year (2.0).
Howe – appointed a month after Staveley arrived at St James' Park – has since had the benefit of a pre-season, while Newcastle have again invested in the transfer market following January's world-leading £90million outlay.
So, how far can Newcastle go in 2022-23? And which of the established big boys might be under threat?
'Europe is definitely a goal'
Staveley's aims appeared quite modest by the time Bruno Guimaraes took to the podium in his introductory news conference following a £35m switch from Lyon.
"We want more, we want to win the Champions League," the Brazil midfielder announced.
Let alone winning the Champions League, Newcastle have not played in the competition since 2003; their last appearance in any European tournament came back in 2013.
But the Magpies now have a squad determined to end the club's absence from continental action after 10 years.
"I believe we can challenge for European football this season," Joelinton told FourFourTwo. "It might be hard to qualify for the Champions League just yet, but why not? We want to at least compete for a Europa League spot."
Sven Botman, a new signing from Lille, added to Mail Online: "Europe is definitely a goal this season. I believe we can achieve that."
If Newcastle can maintain their form to date under Howe, Europa League qualification should be comfortably within their reach.
But the coach, perhaps understandably, is a little more guarded than his ambitious stars, offering only: "As long as expectations are controlled, then we'll be fine.
"This season is about progression, improvement. We want to evolve into the team we want to be in the future."
Better even before buying
Newcastle's evolution to this point has primarily centred around their defence – understandably, given they shipped 80 goals in 2021, a Premier League record for a calendar year.
It was this sort of worrying statistic that prompted doubts about Howe's suitability as the man to turn the Magpies around, with his stint as Bournemouth boss seeing at least 60 conceded in each Premier League season.
Yet in 2022, just four sides have let in fewer than Newcastle (20); only three have kept more clean sheets (seven).
Three of the five players signed in January were defenders, while Botman and goalkeeper Nick Pope have since followed, and the pre-season focus on maintaining possession should ease the pressure on that back line considerably.
It is now at the other end of the pitch where there are slight concerns.
Howe has openly discussed the need for offensive recruits, with the week before Saturday's opener at Nottingham Forest bringing reports of two failed bids for Leicester City playmaker James Maddison.
There clearly remains an over-reliance on Allan Saint-Maximin, who created 50 chances last season – two more than Maddison but also an alarming 21 more than his next team-mate (Joelinton).
Getting on the end of those passes, Newcastle also need Callum Wilson to stay healthy. He has scored 20 goals from just 84 shots over the past two seasons; of the Premier League players to tally 20 or more in that time, only Son Heung-min could better Wilson's conversion rate of 23.8 per cent.
That Wilson's fitness record was so poor last season actually suggests Newcastle could get better without significant reinforcement, though.
Not until the final two matches of the season, in wins over Arsenal and Burnley, did Guimaraes, Saint-Maximin and Wilson all start together.
'Big six' in Howe's sights
With all of the 'big six' pursuing a top-four finish, there are not enough Champions League places to go around even before considering the league's third-best team this year.
Newcastle will not catch City or Liverpool this season – even if Stats Perform's League Prediction model, calculated using betting market odds and Stats Perform's team rankings, counts the Magpies among seven potential title winners (albeit just a 0.03 per cent shot) – but the teams below the top two might all be within Howe's sights after warning shots were fired last term.
Chelsea ended a nine-game unbeaten run for Newcastle in controversial circumstances in March, snatching a 1-0 victory, while Tottenham capitalised on a rare off-day to win 5-1 the following month, but only after trailing to a Fabian Schar free-kick.
Arsenal were not so lucky, seeing their top-four hopes dashed on a brutal evening at St James' Park when Guimaraes, Saint-Maximin and Wilson teamed up from the start for the first time.
Manchester United are yet to play Newcastle in 2022 but were fortunate to escape with a draw from Tyneside in the final game of the previous calendar year.
Spurs and Arsenal are at least widely considered to have improved since the end of last season, spending well, but the same may not be true of Chelsea and United.
In the 2022 standings, Chelsea are sixth, and their transfer window has not panned out quite as they hoped. United have been frustrated, too, and they are a distant ninth since the turn of the year – nine points shy of Newcastle having played a game more.
If the team from Tyneside continue to go from strength to strength, two of English football's giants may have to improve merely to make the Europa League, let alone the Champions League.
Inzaghi expecting Arsenal reaction after Newcastle defeat
Inter boss Simone Inzaghi is expecting a difficult test against "one of the best teams in Europe" when Arsenal visit the San Siro in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Arsenal come into the encounter against the reigning Serie A champions on the back of a defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League last weekend.
Mikel Arteta's side have now lost two of their last three league games, having tasted defeat just once in their 25 games in the top-flight (W21 D3) in 2024.
But Inzaghi, who helped Inter keep pace at the Serie A summit with a controversial 1-0 win over Venezia, is expecting a reaction from the Gunners.
"We are facing one of the best teams in Europe, very recognisable with a great coach," Inzaghi said.
"We all know how the big teams react after a defeat. Look at us after the derby... You find teams out for redress.
"I saw the match between Arsenal and Newcastle. Playing at Newcastle's home is not easy, but it was an open and fascinating match.
"We will find a team that lost two-and-a-half days ago, they will want to play a great game at San Siro."
Inter lost the Derby della Madonnina 2-1 to Milan in September, but have since gone on to win seven of their eight games in all competitions.
Inzaghi's side are just ahead of Arsenal in the Champions League table, with both teams picking up seven points from their opening three games.
The two sides have only met previously in the 2003-04 Champions League – both games were away wins (Arsenal 0-3 Inter, Inter 1-5 Arsenal).
While history favours the visiting side, Inzaghi has said his side will try to dominate possession against Arsenal in order to remain unbeaten in the competition.
"If you see Arsenal among 100 teams, without knowing the name, you recognise them. They played for the last two English titles, point for point with Manchester City," he said.
"We will have to try to keep the ball as much as possible, we know that we are facing a team that put on a lot of offensive pressure.
"We know that it will be a problem for us when they have the ball but the opposite is also true."
Arsenal have also struggled in recent games in the Champions League in Italy, failing to find the back of the net in their last four away games in the country.
Emmanuel Adebayor was the last Gunners player to score there in a 2-0 win over Milan in March 2008, and Inter will be confident of keeping it that way.
Although only five teams have faced more shots in the Champions League this season than Inter (53), they have kept three clean sheets so far.
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Amorim: Man Utd will think 'new Alex Ferguson has arrived' if Sporting beat Man City
Ruben Amorim joked Manchester United fans will think he is the next Alex Ferguson if Sporting CP manage to beat Manchester City in the Champions League.
The head coach has agreed to join the Red Devils and will take charge from November 11 after signing a contract with the club until the end of the 2026-27 season.
Before then, he has two games left in charge of Sporting, starting with their Champions League match against Pep Guardiola's men on Tuesday.
Sporting have made a perfect start to the Primeira Liga, winning all 10 of their games, and have made an unbeaten start in Europe, but Amorim is prepared to come under more scrutiny while on the touchline against City.
"Winning tomorrow would be brilliant. Would I be a hero at Manchester United before I land? I don't think about that, my focus is on winning the game for Sporting," Amorim told a press conference.
"The inferences that people will draw from this game are not important to me because they can be misleading. If the result was very negative, expectations will be lowered, and I don't think that is a bad starting point when I start at United.
"If we win tomorrow, they will think that the new Alex Ferguson has arrived and that will be very difficult to maintain. What interests me is to win tomorrow, to have a farewell at Alvalade, then win in Braga and then start in Manchester.
"It can increase or decrease expectations. I don't know what is better. I want to leave the fans and the players happy and confident and qualify the team for the play-offs."
Sporting won their first European meeting with City in March 2012 in the Europa League, but are winless in their last three against them (D1 L2).
However, they are unbeaten in their first three Champions League games so far this season, and if they avoid defeat on Tuesday, they will equal their longest-ever unbeaten run in the competition (four between September 1982 and March 1983).
The 39-year-old boasts the best win ratio of any Sporting coach on record in the Primeira Liga, winning 120 of his 156 such games in charge (76.92%), but captain Morten Hjulmand said the team are ready to prove they do not need Amorim, who agreed with the sentiment.
"Yes, [Sporting is prepared for his departure]. You heard Hjulmand say that they no longer need the coach," he added.
"They are very mature; they understand the game very well. They are prepared, it won't make any difference in the end.
"There is a change, of course, but the team is prepared and has enough maturity to move forward."
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