Newcastle United still have much work to do in the transfer market and those now holding the levers of power know it.
Retaining their crown jewels is one thing – although there remains a measure of uncertainty about Anthony Gordon, who is finally slated to join pre-season training this week after his Euros exertions – but improving the quality of a group who need an injection of dynamism in forward areas and new authority in the centre of defence is another.
“A tricky stage in the club’s development,” one insider admitted earlier this summer. A focus on quality over quantity has been the mantra in recruitment meetings, which have increased in frequency and urgency since director of football Paul Mitchell got his feet under the table.
He joins at a time when Newcastle are aiming to become perennial top four challengers while tilting for trophies. But they do not have the financial freedom or sporting appeal yet to easily extricate the best players from rivals and have no interest in bringing in players who will limit them to treading water. It’s a tricky remit.
So the short-term result has been stasis and waiting for rivals to blink. “We’re waiting for the right opportunities and it’s not easy to get the best players in a market that’s pretty flat,” an unruffled Newcastle executive said a fortnight ago. Here’s where they stand.
Guehi, Thiaw and a surprise defensive target?
Interest in Crystal Palace’s England centre-back is very real and i understands the player is very much open to moving to St James’ Park. The two clubs are talking and snatching England’s breakout Euros star would be arguably Newcastle’s most significant signing since taking Sandro Tonali from Milan over a year ago.
But despite ongoing conversations it is understood no fee has been agreed just yet – Palace’s asking price is understood to be “north of £65m” – and it feels as if the move is still in a precarious state. Rival Premier League interest exists although neither Liverpool nor any other club has made a move for him yet.
Intriguingly, other defensive targets exist. i understands there have been talks on another centre-back in the last week and they could be running parallel with the Guehi negotiations. They retain interest in Malick Thiaw of Milan and while Guehi feels like the ultimate prize, don’t rule out a surprise target emerging.
‘Hope’ of completing £15m Osula deal this week
Newcastle’s final pre-season games will come at the St James’ Park-hosted Sela Weekender – two games against foreign opposition over two days – and they hope to have wrapped up a deal for Sheffield United forward William Osula by then. Osula was left out of the Blades’ weekend friendly against Huddersfield but that was, according to manager Chris Wilder, down to concussion protocols.
A fee of around £15m has been agreed and the deal appears to be progressing. His record in front of goal for the Blades was modest but Newcastle believe he has pace, power and potential to supplement their forward options in the years to come. Expect to see much more of this sort of succession planning – think signing Tino Livramento to succeed Kieran Trippier – under Mitchell.
The hope is also to bring in a right winger but that that could depend on outgoings, with Callum Wilson, Trippier and Miguel Almiron all still available for sale despite Howe signalling they are likely to remain. As i first revealed earlier this summer, Newcastle are keen on Chelsea’s Noni Madueke.
Big questions over Gordon’s future
It was a transfer saga that never really gained any momentum. Bruno Guimaraes’ £100m release clause was strategically leaked earlier in the year presumably to generate a bidding war for the midfielder but Manchester City and Arsenal’s interest was never more than lukewarm. To his credit, Guimaraes and those close to him never did much to force the issue, which is testament to his loyalty to Eddie Howe and the good faith of both sides when a new long-term deal was signed earlier in the year.
It will get lost in the clamour for new signings but retaining Guimaraes – whose social media post about captaining Newcastle in their weekend friendly in Tokyo was worded in a way that made it a de facto pledge to stay at least one more season – is a huge positive for Newcastle. Everything good they did last year came through him and he remains one of the most complete midfielders in the Premier League. Being able to build a team for next season around him is a significant for Howe.
If we didn’t see the stability around Guimaraes, few would have predicted questions around the future of Gordon – who has seemed settled and happy at Newcastle since signing 18 months ago.
Their mad profit and sustainability rules (PSR) scramble in June saw the club talking to Liverpool about a possible move for Gordon and that interest has not gone away. Neither – suspect those in Merseyside, at least – has Gordon’s interest in making it happen.
Newcastle’s official approach is straightforward: it won’t happen. But he has two years on his contract and while talks to extend it will be opened in the coming weeks, his value will arguably never be higher than it is at this point. If he delays an extension, Newcastle have a decision to make.
Armed with a huge Gordon profit they could renew interest in Jarrod Bowen or Mohammed Kudus of West Ham – or test the water with Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze. It still feels unlikely – and Howe is on the record as saying he won’t leave – but Newcastle will be glad to have such an important player back on Tyneside.
PSR concerns remain
The June scramble to comply with PSR was bruising for Newcastle and the ramifications have not fully resolved yet. They had to do deals they did not want to and no one at St James’ Park has a desire to go through that again.
Chief executive Darren Eales has been clear that Newcastle will spend the maximum they are allowed to under PSR and significant additions have been targeted. But all of this is being done with one eye on June 2025 and keeping Newcastle compliant.
There is leeway to do deals but sales remain important. So, too, is recruitment at academy level – where Newcastle have and will continue to be active this summer.
Do Newcastle have enough to compete?
There is a nagging suspicion that without a couple of quality additions they are still a bit short to lay a glove on the Premier League’s best over the course of an entire campaign. Wilson’s injury record is a concern – he already has a back injury – for a team that rely on intensity. Almiron’s limitations were exposed last season.
During his pretty political address at Adidas’ HQ last month Howe made a point that the transfer window was “massive” and he had a point. Bringing in quality like Guehi would soothe nerves and send a message to the rest of the Premier League.
But they do have quality – along with pedigree coming back. Tonali’s return is significant while Harvey Barnes has had a pre-season to get up to speed. Having Nick Pope in goal again is massive in every sense of the word. Deft recruitment of real quality, allied to Howe’s coaching, would turn them into contenders.
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