Farewell, Miguel Almiron
It was the right time for £21million signing Miguel Almiron to leave Newcastle United, but midfielder will be missed after rejoining Atlanta United.
The final whistle had gone at the St Mary’s Stadium, but Miguel Almiron, a late substitute, felt a push in the back.
Newcastle United had won 3-1 to move up to fourth place in the Premier League, and the club’s players and coaching staff were on the pitch applauding the travelling fans in one corner of the ground.
The push came from Eddie Howe as Almiron’s name was chanted by the away end.
Howe ushered Almiron to the front to a big cheer after a brief, and most likely final, appearance for the club.
And the 30-year-old – who has rejoined Major League Soccer side Atlanta United – transfer window opens, left the St Mary’s Stadium knowing just how loved and appreciated he is by those fans who have followed the club in good times and bad during his Newcastle career.
A few things come to mind when I reflect on Miguel Almiron’s Newcastle career.
It’s a career which has spanned seven seasons and three managers. Almiron has experienced highs, lows and everything in between in his six years at the club.
Almiron arrived at St James’ Park when the club was fighting to stay in the Premier League. Much has changed since then.
Rafa Benitez, needing a player to drive his counter-attacking team up the pitch, signed Almiron from for a club-record £21million fee. The deal, signed off at the Atlanta end by the club’s then-CEO Darren Eales, was a record sale for a Major League Soccer player.
“Like every player who comes to England, I want to go on and achieve big things,” said Almiron after being unveiled at a press conference.
The club has not won a trophy during Almiron’s time at St James’ Park, but it has still achieved big things. The progress is tangible.
Almiron left the club without a winner’s medal, but he returned to Atlanta with the best wishes of fans on Tyneside.
Transfer
During the 2018/19 season, Benitez, desperate for reinforcements, had pushed hard for the Almiron deal amid broader wrangles his own future at St James’ Park. Benitez had laid bare his own frustrations over transfers before a ball was kicked that season in an extraordinary press conference after a defeat to Braga in Portugal, and the omens did not look good for the campaign given the off-field discord.
The mid-season arrival of Almiron, however, gave everyone a lift.
Speaking at the time, Benitez said: “He’s different to the players we have, his game is running between the lines and behind the defenders, scoring goals and making passes.”
Almiron made an impact that season as the team attempted to pull away from the Premier League’s relegation zone, but the Paraguay international did not have any luck in front of goal in those first few months at the club.
That changed the following season, when Steve Bruce was in charge, but it is not his first strike, a goal against Crystal Palace at St James’ Park just before Christmas 2020 that sticks in the mind for me.
Instead, it was a goal a couple of weeks later at Spotland, the home of Rochdale, a League One club at the time.
It was an awkward tie, but Newcastle took the lead thanks to Almiron. Christian Atsu drove towards the byline from the left before pulling the ball back to Almiron, who controlled it with his right foot before smashing it home with his favoured left.
A beaming Almiron – who had waited almost a calendar year to open his account – ran to celebrate his second goal with United’s 3,200-strong travelling contingent.
Almiron, described affectionately as an “animal” on the pitch by former Atlanta team-mate Kenwyne Jones at the time of his move, never stops. His workrate is phenomenal, and I cannot remember a player quite like him at the club. Even on a bad day for him and/or the team, he runs and presses like his life depends on it.
Thankfully, Almiron has since brought many more goals to Newcastle.
And Almiron, memorably, opened the scoring in last season’s unforgettable 4-1 Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain at St James’ Park.
Takeover
When the club was taken over, and Howe was appointed as head coach, in late 2021, there were suggestions that Almiron’s days on Tyneside were numbered given the expected investment in players under new ownership.
Yet he stayed – and flourished – under Howe, a head coach who always wants his team to play with intensity and press high up the pitch. Hard-working Almrion, and his qualities, were invaluable to Howe.
Almiron helped the club, winless when Howe succeeded Bruce, secure its Premier League status.
Another abiding memory of Almiron is from a friendly against Benfica in the summer of 2022.
On a scorching day at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, and against a very capable home team, Almiron put in a red-hot performance. The Paraguay international combined well with Kieran Trippier on the right and scored two goals in a 3-2 defeat against a Champions League team.
This time, the omens looked better, though even the most optimistic of the the 700-odd United fans who made the trip to Portugal would not necessarily have though the team capable of finishing in a Champions League place that season.
But Howe’s side did just that, and the Almiron-Trippier axis would prove to be hugely important.
Almiron made 41 appearances, and scored 11 goals, in all competitions as the club finished fourth in the Premier League, and reached the 2023 Carabao Cup final.
Not bad for a player who had been written off by some at the time of the takeover.
The other thing I’ll remember about Almiron is his smile.
Almiron was beaming when when he was unveiled as a United player at St James’ Park, and he was smiling just about every time I saw him off the pitch.
Speaking today, Howe said: “He has been the ultimate professional, and he has been a big part of some of our most memorable moments in recent seasons.
"He is a great person, and we'll miss him greatly, but this is the right move at the right time for him and his family, and we wish them well."
I never interviewed Almiron – the Spanish speaker was not comfortable speaking to journalists in English – but he let his feet do the talking during his time on Tyneside.
It was time for Almiron to move on, as he needs first-team football and a new challenge, but he will be missed – on and off the pitch.