Newcastle United have been pressing at the top of the Championship all season and under Rafa Benitez, the Mapgies looks extremely likely to return to the Premier League come the end of the campaign.

Benitez's side have been very good at times this campaign and despite a couple of wobbles, they've played through the spells of bad form and remain at the top of the Premier League table.

But away from this current side and campaign, we've seen some massive players turn out for the Magpies in the past and some real club legends that will be remembered in history forever.

But it's extremely common knowledge that some of these stars were let go a little to easily for the Newcastle United faithful, and there were players that could have had huge futures in front of the St James' Park faithful.

So with that in mind, here's the SIX players that Newcastle United were far too quick to sell.......

Dan Gosling

Not exactly the sort of star player that will go down in Newcastle United history, but after some seriously good performances for Bournemouth in the Premier League over the past couple of seasons, should the Toon have let him go?

Arguably not, he was being kept out of the side by the likes of Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye at the time, who have both since seen their careers go downhill whilst Gosling's has gone upwards.

For the sake of a couple of million, should Newcastle have thought about keeping him?

Hatem Ben Arfa

Arguably one of the most gifted and talented players we've seen at Newcastle in recent years, Hatem Ben Arfa had a real love and hate affair with the club.

At times, he was unplayable but we've seen his attitude come between him and various clubs in the past and that certainly happened during his time with Newcastle United.

He left on a free transfer but is he a player Newcastle should have persisted with going forward? There's a mix of people who would have said yes and some who say no.

Sebastien Bassong

Sebastien Bassong was once on the books at Newcastle United and at the time, commanded an £8million transfer fee when he made the switch to Tottenham Hotspur.

Of course, he's now on the books at Norwich City but he's proved himself to be a seriously commanding defender over the years.

But during his time at Newcastle, he was seriously impressive and was tipped to be one of the biggest centre-backs in the Premier League during that era.

He's a player Newcastle might have regretted selling after just one season with the club.

Danny Simpson

There's not many people that leave "big clubs" like Newcastle United and go onto win the Premier League title but that's certainly something Danny Simpson did after leaving for Leicester City.

He had a spell at QPR in between his time at Newcastle and Leicester but of course, he found real fame after being the solid right-back during the Foxes' title success.

He wasn't a player that was particularly revered during his time with the club but has really gone on to prove himself at the highest level in football.

James Milner

One of the famous "Leeds United" generation, James Milner was sold by Newcastle United to Aston Villa in 2008 for a fee of around £12 million.

Of course, he's gone on to become one of England's most solid players over the past few years, and now plays his football with Liverpool, where he's slotted in very nicely in at left-back this season.

But for £12 million, he's a player that might've been best off staying, especially considering almost 10 years later, he's playing at the top level still.

Papiss Cisse

One of the most high-profile signings we've seen from Newcastle over the past few years, Papiss Cisse arrived at Newcastle having made a name for himself in Germany with Freiburg.

We saw some seriously special stuff from the Senegalese international during his time at St James' Park, including a stunning goal at Stamford Bridge.

But he's since been sold to Shandong Lueng in China, where he's picking up a real pay packet.

But having sold him for just £2.5million, is a he player that was sold on a little too quickly, especially after some fantastic performances during his time at the club.