Newcastle have the youngest team in the Premier League. The senior players need to step up New York Times (Online) Chris Waugh Seven matchweeks into the season, Newcastle United are fielding the youngest XIs in the Premier League. At 25 years and 73 days, Newcastle's starters are, on average, 132 days younger than the second-youngest side, Brighton & Hove Albion. In the opening-day draw with Liverpool, the average age of Newcastle's line-up was only 24 years and 90 days. Nobody associated with the club could have missed Newcastle's deliberate shift towards youth over the summer . Last season, Newcastle's starting XI was the sixth-oldest in the Premier League, averaging 27 years and 65 days. Yet over the summer, eight players arrived, all 24 and under, while Kieran Trippier (35 at the end of last season), Bruno Guimaraes (28), Sandro Tonali (26) and Anthony Gordon (25) were among those who left, while Nick Pope (34) has also been jettisoned from the side. Ross Wilson, the sporting director, said last month that the summer business was clearly thought out and that “the plan has gone exactly as we set out on day one, other than Bruno (leaving)”. Chief executive David Hopkinson labels this new phase of team-building “ Newcastle 2.0 “. Head coach Matthias Jaissle, meanwhile, repeatedly describes the pivot in age profile as “the brave way” the hierarchy have decided to embark on. While the average-age statistic is stark and outlines the transformation, it does not tell the whole story. Newcastle's XIs have not simply been made up of young summer imports and homegrown 'kids'. Of the eight players to have featured in every league match, five are 25 or older and have substantial Premier League and/or top-level European experience. The other three are Lewis Hall, who is 22 but a senior England international; Lukas Hornicek, the 24-year-old goalkeeper who joined from Braga in August; and Lewis Miley, the 20-year-old academy graduate who has made 50 senior starts in all competitions. Jacob Murphy, the 31-year-old veteran, has appeared in all but one of their league matches. Dan Burn, the 34-year-old captain, and Joelinton, the 30-year-old midfielder, have made only two appearances each, though they would have featured in every match, potentially starting many, but for injury. Evidently, not every member of Newcastle's side is young or inexperienced. The problem is that the senior players Jaissle has relied on are simply not as good as those who departed. Harvey Barnes (aged 28) has always been a regular source of goals, but he needed Gordon to leave to finally secure the left-wing berth, three years after joining. Yoane Wissa (30) has scored two league goals for Newcastle since joining in 2025 and, despite a very promising start this August , has rapidly regressed towards last season's form. Murphy has been a brilliant servant but, aside from a magnificent 2024-25 campaign supplying Alexander Isak , he has not always convinced. Joe Willock (27) was not a consistent starter during the final two years of Eddie Howe's tenure and, without a change of head coach, the midfielder would likely have left during the window. This is not meant to denigrate those senior figures. They are committed and good players who, at different points this season, have delivered in key moments. The question is whether they can do so reliably, at a comparable rate to the key players who moved on, or whether they needed that stardust to elevate them. Reducing the squad's age was the right move. This summer's business has shrunk a European-level wage budget for a club not in UEFA competition and created an environment to develop young players before potentially selling them as part of the ongoing 'trading model' necessary in a squad-cost ratio world — though whether the ideal balance was struck is another question. Although many at the club rightly point out that some of this summer's big-money departures did not stay at peak form throughout last season, Gordon still top-scored with 17 goals across all competitions and Tonali remained an undisputed starter. More damaging was the loss of Guimaraes, who scored a club-high nine Premier League goals and was the team's captain, talisman and driving force. Newcastle planned to build their new-look side around him. Nico Gonzalez may prove to be a top midfielder for Newcastle and Sean Steur has the talent to be a long-term successor, but Guimaraes' departure for Arsenal undoubtedly affected Newcastle's blueprint. Nico is a different type of player and Steur cannot be expected to define matches at 18. Some at the top of the club concluded that, after finishing 12th last season, personnel had to change or Newcastle would flatline again — those stars who had underperformed had been regulars in an underperforming side, so their loss could potentially be absorbed and the XI refreshed. That argument has logic, but it required signings ready for the here and now, not just the future. During the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, only three summer signings started. Another four were on the bench and three of them were unused (Amar Dedic, it must be noted, is still recovering from injury). Bazoumana Toure and Aladji Bamba, who cost a combined ￡73million ($97.6m), have yet to start a Premier League match. Bamba has played a combined 27 minutes all season. Jaissle seems to have decided neither is ready to start, despite assurances from the hierarchy that they are first-XI capable. Both were signed before Jaissle arrived. In theory, they took Gordon's and Tonali's places in the squad, though neither could realistically have been expected to match their quality. Injuries have not helped. Anthony Elanga would have started more if he had been fit and Will Osula would have led the line if he hadn't hobbled off during the opener. Jacob Ramsey may have played more, too, though he has not actually started in the league under Jaissle. Undoubtedly, there are valid questions about Jaissle's tactics, attacking game plan and whether he is maximising the resources at his disposal. But he has inherited a squad that has lost its difference-makers. Guimaraes, Tonali and Gordon were in their prime, aged 24 to 28, and could regularly produce match-winning moments. Jaissle's squad is made up of players in their late twenties and early thirties who lack those star qualities, and a group of youngsters who may prove exceptional in time but do not appear ready to be relied upon consistently. There are not enough players in the happy-medium mid-twenties. Youthfulness alone does not explain away Newcastle's shortcomings. Their age-profile issues are more nuanced than that.