In a world of £100m midfielders and forwards, Newcastle United have pulled off two of the best deals of the entire transfer window by signing Nico Gonzalez and Matias Fernandez-Pardo for as much as they raked in for Sandro Tonali.

As the Magpies signed off a remarkable summer with a £51m move for Fernandez-Pardo – a potential “game changer” according to one insider – their work in the closing stage shows that patience is a virtue.

Gonzalez at £47m is a striking bargain. While not a lung-busting midfield talisman, he is the authoritative presence who fits perfectly into Matthias Jaissle’s “vertical football” game plan.

Considering his age and CV, as well as being on the fringes of the Spain national team, it feels like a fantastic price for a player capable of adding a new dimension to Newcastle.

Fernandez-Pardo feels like a similar signing. At £51m and with no Premier League experience they are meeting his market value, but he is 21 and a long-term target.

Both deals show how Newcastle’s recruitment has been overhauled in the last 12 months.

In meetings since May, “transactability” has been one of the key phrases. It sounds like a buzzword but it is not. It is what those in charge of transfers have been saying to stop everyone from getting carried away when targets have been discussed.

The deep, data-driven list of aspirational names Newcastle had compiled leading into this transfer window were one thing.

But their unique position in the market – no Europe, limited capacity to compete with the biggest clubs on wages and the need to sell to buy – meant one of the most important metrics they had to consider was whether a deal could actually be done.

That was the failing 12 months ago. Newcastle had the right targets – look at how Joao Pedro and Benjamin Sesko have flourished at their new clubs – but the wrong approach. They didn’t have enough pull and their plan B was sub-standard.

A willingness to absorb outside criticism of their dealings and not panic after making consecutive big sales allowed them to get Gonzalez, who was always near the top of their list. At the start of the summer he was thought to be an unlikely signing. By late August, that had completely changed after Newcastle pitched him the prospect of a leading role in their plan.

The suspicion is that for him, Fernandez-Pardo and the likes of Lewis Miley, being the main men in a new project has helped sway their decisions to either stay or sign on. They are ambitious and confident enough to believe they deserve to take the centre stage.

It has been a transfer window that went from alarming to uplifting at St James’ Park and it sets the tone for the next three years at Newcastle.

Insiders say the club have reset their squad cost ratio position to a point where there will be no requirement to sell to comply with Uefa’s regulations in the future and, even more importantly given their breach of those rules last season, they will be compliant in future years.

The three late moves mean January reinforcements feel unlikely – although that window is universally viewed as a difficult market with little value and Newcastle won’t want to risk their new-found financial flexibility. Discipline remains the watchword for those in charge.

That may be disappointing for some but sticking to a financial plan helps them on other fronts. It also means that for all the noise around Lewis Hall’s future, Manchester United can forget the idea that a sale in 2027 is a sure thing. Newcastle can dictate a fee and – as Tottenham found out with Sandro Tonali – they have proved difficult sellers to domestic rivals.

“I’ve probably been uninvited to a few Christmas parties,” was the admission of one senior negotiator at the club this week about the Tonali deal and the intention is to get Hall tied down to a new long-term contract over the next few months.

There is likely to be a short-term extension to Joe Willock’s contract for another year while Newcastle intend to exercise the option on Dan Burn’s deal too, while scouting for a younger centre-back to challenge him and Fabian Schar in the future.

This has not been a perfect window at St James’s Park. They missed out on top targets like Victor Munoz and Johan Manzambi and some of their alternatives may take time to bed in. Based on the first few glimpses, Aladji Bamba and Bazoumana Toure have looked raw and not quite as oven ready as insiders insisted they were.

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It will be interesting to see how Jaissle’s verticality gets on against Bournemouth on Saturday in a challenge that was always beyond his predecessor Eddie Howe. Just as we needed to wait and see on Newcastle’s hard reset, it will take time to work out just how well-equipped the club are to hit the European qualification target this season.

But the key for the club is that they are now building from a position of strength rather than from behind the eight ball, where it was felt they spent a good chunk of last year.

“A new energy” is what sources believe Newcastle now have. After momentum dried up last season, it certainly feels that way.