Newcastle United have become their ‘own worst enemies’ by overachieving in the years that followed the PIF-led takeover at St James Park - according to one former Premier League star.

There have been several questions asked over what lies ahead for the Magpies after what has been a challenging summer with the departures of Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon to Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona respectively and the future of captain Bruno Guimaraes continues to make headlines after Arsenal agreed a £75million deal.

The momentum gained from the Carabao Cup final win against Liverpool in March last year and progressing into the knockout stages of the Champions League appears to have been lost - and the parting of ways with former manager Eddie Howe has brought an end to a memorable chapter in the club’s recent history. With new head coach Matthias Jaissle set to take charge of a new look Magpies squad, there is an element of the unknown ahead of the new campaign - and former Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has suggested Newcastle are suffering from the effects of overachieving over the last three seasons.

He told Sky Sports: “If you’re an ambitious player, and we’ve talked about Bruno Guimaraes earlier, what is Newcastle’s downfall is they don’t have European football. A lot of players, it’s a short career, there’s not a lot of patience in it. You want to go an win stuff at the highest level so when you look at Anthony Gordon going to Barcelona, Tonali to Tottenham, if Bruno Guimaraes goes to Arsenal, you can’t help but feel that they might be other players doing the same thing.

“Then Newcastle doing a total rebuild, going in a different direction with a new manager, with a new squad and building for the future, because it is difficult. When you push, and I do think Newcastle have overachieved, and that’s where they are their own worst enemies, they’ve overachieved, they’re paying the price, financially, and with players wanting to play at that level now they’ve had a taste for it.”