Player Newcastle sold for less than £8m has been put in Europe’s best team for August

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Newcastle United haven’t had a great start to the season, losing three of their opening four Premier League matches.

The Magpies enjoyed an amazing season last time out, finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.

It looked like more of the same early on as Newcastle triumphed in their opening match of the campaign, hammering Aston Villa 5-1.

However, the Magpies then had three tough fixtures, losing away at Manchester City, at home to Liverpool, and away at Brighton.

Newcastle will hope for more joy in September with some easier league fixtures on paper. Brentford, Sheffield United and Burnley await the Magpies.

While the Magpies didn’t have any representatives in Whoscored‘s latest team of the month, one player formerly on the Newcastle books did make the cut.

‘Worthy of his inclusion’

Chancel Mbemba, who played for the Magpies between 2015 and 2018, got the nod after his impressive start for Marseille.

The 30-year-old made 59 appearances for Newcastle after joining from Anderlecht in July 2015 for a reported £8million.

However, he was limited to 11 in all competitions in 2017-18, his final season at St James’ Park.

Newcastle subsequently sold him to Portuguese giants Porto for a reported £7.15million in July 2018.

Mbemba played for Marseille for four years before joining Marseille on a free transfer last summer.

His efforts for the French club in August saw him make Whoscored’s best XI of players across the main five European leagues.

‘Marseille went unbeaten in Ligue 1 throughout August, conceding just the three goals, and a key contributor to the success was Chancel Mbemba,’ they wrote.

‘His performance in the 2-0 victory over Brest was the standout in a strong month for the 29-year-old and with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.46 he is worthy of his inclusion in Europe’s best XI.’