THE first signing of Newcastle United’s new era was always going to be the most important one.

What route would the club’s new Saudi-backed owners go down? Would they go all out to make a ‘statement signing’ to confirm the ambition of the new regime? Or would they take a more practical approach and target a player able to make an immediate impact on the Magpies’ ongoing relegation battle?

In the end, by signing Kieran Trippier for an initial sum of £12m from Atletico Madrid, they have achieved both.

They have signed an established England international from the reigning Spanish champions, persuading a proven performer to turn down the latter stages of the Champions League for the Premier League relegation zone.

But they have also recruited a player with extensive Premier League experience and widely-acknowledged leadership skills, who can make an immediate difference to Eddie Howe’s first-choice starting XI.

They have made a statement, pulling off an ambitious transfer deal that would have been unimaginable had Mike Ashley still been in charge.

Trippier wants to remain in the England squad and play in this winter’s World Cup in Qatar, yet he has been persuaded to move to St James’ Park and become one of the figureheads for Amanda Staveley’s Tyneside revolution.

Other players approached by the Magpies this month might well now look at Trippier and think, ‘Well if he’s prepared to join Newcastle, why shouldn’t I be?’

Crucially, though, Staveley and her advisors have not made a ‘trophy signing’ with little or no practical benefit in the next few months. They have not gone for style above substance, and having haggled aggressively to structure a deal that represents good value-for-money at an initial fee of £12m and a series of future add-ons, they have also proved they will not be pushovers at the negotiating table despite the vast financial wealth of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which now owns 80 per cent of the club.

More work is needed this month, and while Trippier had effectively agreed to move to Newcastle long before the transfer window actually opened, other players are proving more reluctant to join the Magpies’ new dawn.

There has been a bid for Everton’s Lucas Digne – sources claim Newcastle have indicated a willingness to pay around £22m and include Sean Longstaff as part of any deal – but the full-back has expressed a strong reluctance to move to Tyneside, preferring instead to hold out for a switch to either Everton or Leicester.

Staveley and the rest of the recruitment team have also encountered resistance in their attempts to land an established centre-half.

It will not be plain sailing, but the new owners’ overhaul of the club they inherited is up and running. And by unveiling Trippier this morning, they have shown they are on the right track.