Newcastle United may have just been dealt a boost on the transfer front ahead of the summer window opening, it has emerged.
Magpies dreading summer window
It is fair to say that few Newcastle fans are looking forward to the summer window as much as they have been in recent years. After a disappointing Premier League campaign, they have seen Everton and Nottingham Forest fall foul of financial fair play regulations and be docked points as a consequence, with both sides in danger of relegation from the top flight.
Summer reinforcements Harvey Barnes, Sandro Tonali and Lewis Hall have hardly featured through a combination of form, injuries and suspensions, while injuries have rocked Eddie Howe’s squad from the first week of the season until now.
Newcastle’s summer signings | ||
Player | Cost | Minutes played (PL) |
Sandro Tonali | £55m | 440 |
Lewis Hall | Loan | 104 |
Tino Livramento | £32m | 965 |
Harvey Barnes | £38m | 355 |
Though they are owned by the richest owners in club football, there has been significant speculation that one of their stars will have to depart this summer to balance the books. This idea was only fueled by Darren Eales, the club’s CEO.
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It would be a tough decision for the club.
Speaking in January, he explained: “It’s just the nature of the beast. If you trade players on it creates more headroom. You have to keep growing that headroom, increasing commercial revenue and player trading.
“It’s difficult to say specifically on certain players, but I can say that, if we’re going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players.”
That has led to speculation around fan favourite Bruno Guimaraes, while Alexander Isak is another that could be shipped off in order to balance the books. Sven Botman could have been another candidate but a knee injury is likely to prevent that, with the Dutchman sidelined for the next nine months. But amid the gloom, there is good news for the Magpies.
Newcastle summer transfer news
That comes courtesy of Chronicle Live’s Lee Ryder, who insists that the picture isn’t as gloomy as it seems. Chiefly, he shares that there is plenty of money to spend this summer.
“United are set to have money to spend this summer despite FFP rules again set to be a big factor”, he claims, albeit adding that departures are expected too.
It comes with Newcastle scout Steve Nickson enjoying a busy international break, in which he is suspected to have been keeping tabs on both Bayer Leverkusen left-back Alex Grimaldo and Barcelona winger Raphinha, both of whom Newcastle have a long term interest in.
Certainly, scouting players of that calibre suggests that there will be plenty to spend on Tyneside this summer, though quite how much may ultimately depend on whether or not Howe’s side can make a late push for one of the European qualification places in the final ten games of the campaign.
As it stands, they are marooned in 10th place and an outside bet for even Conference League football next season, in what has been a difficult campaign. However, Newcastle fans will take solace from the fact that the transfer well is far from dry on Tyneside.
