By this point, Dan Ashworth must have one of the best kept lawns in the South East.
It is 84 days since Ashworth resigned from his role at Brighton in order to take over as Newcastle’s first director of football of the PIF era. But his gardening leave will not end until November and the two clubs are yet to reach an agreement on the size of compensation required to free up Ashworth to start the substantial job he has at St James’ Park. So the agonising wait goes on.
It’s an unsatisfactory situation, not least as Newcastle’s most important transfer window since the last one is starting to come into sharp focus.
A senior club source tells i they will be “very active” again. A striker is the absolute priority. “Quality not quantity” is the plan. But there’s more to it than that.
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The finances require it. Newcastle’s original business plan was to provide a £50million transfer budget in each of their first five windows, adding to that with outgoings and commercial deals the club is able to negotiate.
Eye-catching sponsorships are incoming but generating good money and making bold decisions on who to sell is an underrated skill.
If there is one thing that Liverpool’s departing director of football Michael Edwards deserves a bit more credit for, it is cashing in on assets at just the right time. Newcastle have rarely done that recently and with an injection of funds financing their January business they didn’t have to worry unduly about sales.
It left them with a group so top heavy that Jamal Lewis, Isaac Hayden and Ciaran Clark were all left out of the 25-man squad. For a club that knows sticking to Financial Fair Play (FFP) while growing quickly is going to require a delicate balancing act, remedying that is absolutely essential.
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Of the next tier, Newcastle might be tempted to consider offers for Miguel Almiron and even captain Jamaal Lascelles.
The unspoken possibility is whether the Magpies would trade on players like Allan Saint-Maximin or Martin Dubravka – big individuals who the club insist are not for sale but who carry substantial value. That feels unlikely at this stage in the revolution but clubs with an eye on the future and confidence in their recruitment aren’t afraid of making big calls if they feel better options are available.
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