With Chancel Mbemba's move to Tyneside all but complete, Newcastle United fans should be praying that it's a sign of things to come, rather than a one off marquee signing.
The 20-year old Congolese defender has been hailed as the next Vincent Kompany by some pundits and for just £8.5 million could turn out to be a terrific coup for Newcastle, as well as a bargain by today's pricey modern standards. But in order for his signing to be successful it has to be one of several other defenders added to the squad this summer.
Recent records are a cause for concern
Newcastle's backline has been desperately fragile in recent years and its record over the past three seasons, conceding 68, 59 and 63 goals respectively, is a real cause for concern and not the type of problem that a young, non-English speaking player should have placed upon his shoulders in his first season in the Premier League.
The blame for Newcastle's defensive deficiencies lies in part with the club's transfer policy, which at first looked to be a winning recruitment method, but has more recently shown itself to be little more than a calculated gamble, with the club's better players leaving for big money whilst new recruits routinely fall short of the required level.
The result of this has been three seasons of droll, uninspiring football at St James's Park, the likes of which has made Newcastle potential relegation fodder and has forced the club to rethink its recruitment strategy in order to avoid yet another season on the brink of descending into English football's second tier.
Furthermore, the club's penchant for wasting potential and alienating those who may make a difference has also been a significant factor in Newcastle's destructive defensive methods. Players like Davide Santon and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa were moved on in less-than-amicable circumstances at a time when holes in Newcastle's back line were becoming glaringly obvious with those two seeming to be decent enough plugs.
Instead of replacing these players, the club's decision to press on with what it had was almost enough to cost Newcastle their top flight status. Those players are still yet to be properly replaced, which is why it is imperative that Mbemba has other recruits to help him stop the rot in the Magpies' defence.
Current players aren't pulling their weight
In addition to the club's slipshod attitude to its defensive problems, its current crop of defenders are slowly becoming less and less reliable. Club captain and former fan favourite Fabricio Coloccini's standards dropped considerably last season and fans' confidence in their skipper is at an all time low, with many supporters now suggesting that a change of captain is in the squad's best interests.
With that said, the skipper could very well argue that the players around him don't exactly inspire great amounts of confidence. Mike Williamson has been drowning out of his depth in the Premier League for far too long and as time has gone by, the Newcastle supporters have ceased to give him the benefit of the doubt and with very good reason.
Williamson's tackling runs the gamut from lazy to reckless without going anywhere near competent and he has played integral parts in plenty of opposing team's goals against Newcastle during his tenure. His ability – or lack thereof – has regularly been called into question by supporters since he was handed a baffling five and a half year contract in 2010 and which many will be glad to see him leave when his contract expires next summer.
Another defender guilty of severely underperforming is homegrown 'talent' Steven Taylor, who has all the passion the Newcastle supporters want, yet sadly very few of the capabilities required to actually produce results on the pitch. One cannot argue against his dedication to the cause, but as Newcastle found out with life under John Carver, passion is a poor substitute for substance.
Elsewhere Newcastle's defence boasts underwhelming levels of experience, players not living upto their billed potential and a healthy dose of naivety, with Dutch full-back Daryl Janmaat probably the only defender in the squad likely to draw any praise after last season's turgid performances.
The club has only itself to blame
Despite the players' aforementioned inadequacies, the buck has to stop with those in charge of recruitment. To allow a top flight club to end up with such an aneamic back line is criminal and the signings of players like Mbemba is long overdue. What Newcastle need now is another two or three proven defenders, capable of stepping straight into the starting line up, without any significant problems.
Should this happen, it could even bring the best out of those currently at the club who for too long have been free to play without competition for their places. This lack of a challenge has surely contributed to an obvious complacency and would be a welcome sight for supporters, desperate to see players fighting to put on the black and white shirt.
The signing of Mbemba is certainly a promising start, but it has to be exactly that – a start, not an end. He is a plaster over a gaping wound at the moment and Newcastle are in dire need of something stronger to hold back the haemorrhage, lest they find themselves languishing at the wrong end of the table again, with yet another promising player's future tarnished by a club with a tremendous lack of foresight.