Newcastle have been cleared by a player who earned 8x more than Lewis Miley

Newcastle United have improved greatly over the past 18 months under current manager Eddie Howe, with the club reaching the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.

The Magpies were taken over by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2021, with their massive investment allowing the club to go from relegated to consistent European contenders.

However, this season, the club has struggled during spells, with the team often hampered by many members of the first team struggling with injury and health for a long time.

The board's investment has seen many fan favorites leave St James' Park, including Jonjo Shelvey, who was a real mainstay in the Magpies side during years of discontent with former owner Mike Ashley.

The club also parted ways with another player who enjoyed success at St James' Park, but fell victim to the club's success, the club made the smart decision not to renew his contract last year.

Ciaran Clark figures at Newcastle

After arriving at the club for £5m from Aston Villa back in 2016, defender Ciaran Clark quickly became a key figure in the Newcastle team, making 34 appearances and scoring two goals in his first campaign at St James' Park.

The Irishman would go on to make 31 appearances over the next two Premier League seasons, scoring five goals – a record for a central midfielder.

He would go on to make more than 20 appearances in one of his three full seasons with the Magpies, with his highest tally coming in the 2020/21 campaign, when the defender made 22 appearances – a season in which the club avoided relegation. I'm back in the Championship.

Given the additions of Dan Burn and Sven Botman after taking over, Howe decided to loan Clark to Sheffield United for the 2022/23 season – the final year of his current Tyneside deal, with the experienced player leaving the club. club to join Stoke City.

The Magpies have done a good job of offloading the 34-year-old, with the former Villa man only managing to make three Potters appearances this campaign, with Howe's side doing an excellent job of getting his wages off the books.

Ciaran Clark's salary at Newcastle

During his six full campaigns at the club, Clark pocketed £13.7m in wages alone, taking the Magpies' total for the defender to £18.7m when including his transfer fee.

Earning £42k-a-week during the last few years of his time with the Toon, he was impressively ahead of the likes of Jacob Murphy (£35k) and wonderkid Lewis Miley (£5k).

Although he was a fine player at the time at Newcastle, the club's unexpected transition from relegation hopefuls to European hopefuls saw him quickly regress – and the Irishman was unlucky to lose his position.

However, football is a cruel industry, with his huge wages going a long way in Newcastle's efforts to avoid any FFP sanctions in the near future given their £400m big spending spree since the Saudi takeover a few years ago.