Newcastle United have been linked with a whole host of names so far this summer, but apart from activating the clause to sign Christian Atsu permanently, we are yet to see any new signings holding up the black and white shirt at St. James’. No need to panic, however.
Following relegation last summer Newcastle underwent a monumental rebuild, bringing in 12 new first team players. It is vital for us all to realise that the first of those twelve new additions last summer arrived at the end of June in the form of Matz Sels, suggesting that it is still very much early days in the current window.
For those worried about #NUFC's lack of signings – Matz Sels was RB's first signing last summer on 29/06. Wijnaldum the year before 11/07.
— Andrew Musgrove (@ADMusgrove) June 12, 2017
This is supported to by The Chronicle’s Andrew Musgrove, who also points out that, in the summer of 2015, our first signing wasn’t made until mid July in Gini Wijnaldum.
Of course Rafa Benitez and us, the eagerly anticipating fans, would like to get our business done early and make a statement of intent ahead of our Premier League return, but this time last summer Newcastle hadn’t made a single signing – yet we went on to sign TWELVE in the 2 months that followed:
29 June – Matz Sels (£6.5m)
1st July – Matt Ritchie & Dwight Gayle (£12m & £10m)
8th July – Jesus Gamez (Free)
11th July – Isaac Hayden (£2.5m)
21st July – Grant Hanley (£5.5m)
3rd August – Ciaran Clark & Mo Diame (£5m & £4.5m)
24th August – DeAndre Yedlin (£5m)
28th August – Daryl Murphy & Achraf Lazaar (Both £3m)
31st August – Christian Atsu (Loan)
Rafa Benitez will be keen to hit the ground running when the season kicks off on the 12th/13th August at home to Spurs, so it’s clear to see why he wants business done early to allow new signings to integrate and find their feet in the team.
Panic not, however. Despite ‘missing out’ on the likes of Ruben Semedo and Harry Maguire in recent weeks, Newcastle will have several irons in the fire.
It must be said that we will have to loosen our purse strings to compete in today’s market of inflates fees, but it’s still very much early days. Keep the faith – the signings will come.
Agree Olly. Lets relax and see what unfolds.
shamrock(Quote)
Sorry boys I disagree, and here’s why.
Last season was vastly different due to our relegation. Our squad is pretty much ready for that league.
Look at the players you listed up there – a good 5 or 6 of them barely featured for us.
The core of the team – Darlow, Anita, Lascelles, Dummett, Shelvey, Colback, Gouffran, Perez – these players were already in our squad and were good enough to get us promoted.
But add them to your list and tell me how many of them are good enough for the PL (bare in mind a number of my list were the ones that got us relegated).
For me there needs to be more of an urgency this summer as the need for better players is greater because of the higher standard of football.
I’m not saying press the panic button just yet, but I do personally find it concerning, based on the level of changes Rafa seems to want to make to the squad.
Sharpy17(Quote)
It’s the lack of credible information that gets people going. However, I prefer it that way when the club say nowt and then the signed players arrive. I do enjoy the speculation mind but I bet Rafa prefers the silence.
georgio(Quote)
I’m with Sharpy on this one, I think the sooner players arrive the better so they can gel with the rest of the team and get up to speed with Rafa’s way of doing things. Also it gives them some time to find a new pad to live in . I know the club arrange all that but most want to pick there own place sooner or later plus they have time to get to know the area before getting bogged down with PL games.
kimtoon(Quote)
I am with Sharpy on this one too. We know we have Tammy Abraham and Florian Lejeune at the final stage but it just can’t get done for some reason. It is not a good sign, which really worries me.
funrafa(Quote)
My concern with Tammy is the fact he’s made it public he’s not sure about moving to nufc. I have long sang his praises, but honestly; if he even has to stop and think about playing in front of 52 thousand every other week, well…………………..
kimtoon(Quote)
I’m not denying that the sooner the better when it comes to transfers, but i’ve seen several fans already throw their toys out the pram and say ‘here we go again’ after Leicester sign Maguire or Semedo went to Villarreal.
It’s mid June and transfers are never as straight forward as they appear..
Providing Rafa gets the backing Ashley appears to have promised him, I am confident we’ll get business done. Rafa will have options beyond A, B and even C – he’s that meticulous.
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Agree, he’ll of done his homework for sure Olly, all the same I only want committed players coming in. I would be walking away from ANY player who isn’t sure, especially if they made that public.
kimtoon(Quote)
Agree Kim but I was using him as an example that the club can’t conclude a deal for some reason. If the club closed the deal at the time when Chelsea and the player initially agreed to join, Seagull wouldn’t have the chance to present him a bigger offer, and he probably won’t have the chance to say those things in public. To be fair he had no association with Newcastle before and you can’t really blame him for hesitation. He will know better when he comes in, just like the one we just signed from Chelsea. When he just came in on loan, he was not sure too.
funrafa(Quote)
“Providing Rafa gets the backing Ashley appears to have promised him”, that is exactly my concern. I don’t worry about Rafa’s ability to identify transfer targets. Actually that is the reason we have so many rumors going on but in the end, we get nothing. It starts looking like the winter window.
funrafa(Quote)
Well the same player we have talked about has popped his head up again like every window,will we get him this time?? Bas Dost
Icedog(Quote)
Deals rarely get done this early in the window because selling sides want to hold out, increase competition and make the selling price higher.
If a buying side is desperate and wants to secure a player sooner rather thank later with less risk, they have to pay over the odds aka Pickford.
I would rather we did not pay over the odds and leave ourselves with an expensive mistake or short of players.
Gelling players is great but they are nowhere near reporting back for pre season yet and it is not that straight forward in any case where agents and other factors are in play.
shamrock(Quote)
Hoots breaks club record transfer fee in signing a new keeper!
Icedog(Quote)
Kimtoon: Abrahams was said to be signing a new contract with Chelsea and then going out on loan. We, or any other club, would then pay his wages for a year. I don’t think it is a matter of him personally being able to get more money from other clubs. Chelsea might want a loan fee and other clubs may offer more but I doubt if that would sway them much. They had over 40 players on loan last year so they have experience in this.
I thought the rumour was that he was worried about moving up North and being away from his mates. Strange really as Bristol is not that close to London. We should have Atsu give him a call. They probably know each other.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
yeah, that’s likely what it is or maybe he don’t fancy the cold 🙄 Seriously though the rumour was he was worried he wouldn’t be first choice .
kimtoon(Quote)
Why should he be though Kim!
shamrock(Quote)
Being honest, I don’t really care one way or another if Abrahams comes or not. For one theres nothing to suggest he will be a success or the key player to keep us in the league, and for two even if he is a success, it looks highly unlikely Chelsea would let him leave permanently anyway.
We need way more than this lad, and I agree with Sham. If him coming hinges on a guarantee of football, then move on.
Sharpy17(Quote)
http://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/890210531?-11058:809:3
And that would defo be the end of that I reckon ? bloody madness man.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good, now we can move on. Abraham has enormous potential, but potential means absolutely nothing when you’re talking about a one year loan. Add to that the finances and first team assurances and it’s insane.
Bring in Batshuayi on loan or go out and get Dost and we’ll be much better off. They would undoubtedly raise our “ceiling” while Abraham MIGHT, but is really only sure to provide depth.
I do wish we would close a deal soon, though. I have no doubt that Rafa has targets that we and the press aren’t aware of, but it does wory me a bit when there are fairly solid reports on a deal for someone like Lejeune and then things start to drag on or go cold.
Charlie Prince(Quote)
I definitely want Abrahams to come, only because he is Rafa’s choice. I assume he made this choice based on the elements such as the amount of $ he can use and the players available for us,etc. If he thinks Abrahams is the one under our current situation, I sincerely hope he can get him. Are you guys really think we can bring in Batshuayi?
funrafa(Quote)
Tammy Abraham is set for loan spell away from Chelsea, with Newcastle linked
Clubs interested in him have found out they must pay additional £1million in fees
The money will not go to Chelsea, but to the player, his family and his agent
The demands have put some clubs off and may yet end Brighton’s interest
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4612172/Chelsea-youngster-Tammy-Abraham-set-pay-day-loan.html#ixzz4kDfVD0Zb
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
funrafa(Quote)
I don’t think we can shell out £30m+ to buy Batshuayi, but I think we might be able to loan him. And if we’re talking about a one year loan, I’d much rather have the more experienced, polished player because he’ll help right now.
I’m certainly not punting on him coming in, but I thinking he’s the caliber of player we should be looking for. Dost is on a similar level for me. Everyone else we’ve been linked with is either roughly on par with Gayle or is a young up-and-comer who could boom or bust.
Charlie Prince(Quote)
I am afraid the extra 1million will put Toon off, not Brighton.
funrafa(Quote)
Gosh I was surprised there is someone else other than me! what time zone you are in?
I agree with you and I think Rafa would go after Batshuayi if there is a little possibility.
funrafa(Quote)
Sham, sorry for late reply, busy last night. I agree mate , he shouldn’t be. As much as I have rated the lad he’s still learning and lets face it, if he was the real deal now, we wouldn’t have the chance to loan him . For me he is about the level of a fully fit Gayle but no guarantee of doing it consistently at PL level. I would love us to aim higher for a real top quality player but I just can’t see it. What has soured the cream for me is the I’m not sure comments from him . Newcastle is a huge club to play for compared to bloody Brighton, there shouldn’t be anything to think about if it’s between us and them. If it’s all about being close to his pals in London making Brighton more attractive then it shows a lack of ambition on his part. Let’s face it if Real Madrid came calling would he turn it down cause he’d miss his mates ?
Of course we also have greedy agents in the background too muddying the water I’m sure.
kimtoon(Quote)
And that’s where all the rumours come from. Bloody agents looking for their payout.
georgio(Quote)
once again agents are filling their boots like they do every window its a disgrace something should be done, a bloody cap on what they charge,most agents dont live in England so they dont pay tax in this country the greedy swines,Mitro agent has said give me a million and Mitro yours ffs
icedog(Quote)
Exactly, They should only get fees when their client changes clubs for good. If there has to be a fee for loans it should be a set nominal fee.
kimtoon(Quote)
Correct mate
Icedog(Quote)
http://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/890254070?-11058:809:0
Congrats to Bez on his MBE. Always good to see an honorary Geordie getting some credit.
Sharpy17(Quote)
That comment from Mitro’s agent is so unprofessional. His license (if there is one for agent) should be removed because of these kind of comments.
funrafa(Quote)
I sort of agree Ice but it may be some no nothing journalist who’s set that one running. There’s millions of people making money out of football who know or do nothing. What’s the bonus payment for Abraham’s cat?
georgio(Quote)
Maguire for £17m just shows how mad the market now is. This is going to be a huge problem for us imo. If that’s the benchmark, will we have enough cash to make a big difference?
I think there’s a bit of an issue here as according to the press we have had a couple of deals lined up but still no completion. The question is why? Is Ashley holding back due to takeover talks?
Stuart79(Quote)
I think this site has a virus. Keeps redirecting to some site that constantly buzzes my phone. Does not happen on the other pages I have open, just this one.
shamrock(Quote)
Shamrock, I’m the same with phone unless using the site via wifi on phone, on computer using wifi it’s always ok
Simon(Quote)
I think the Agent for Abrahams has leverage over Chelsea because there is an unsigned contract on the table and because of the situation with Solanke and Liverpool. I have never heard of the loaning club paying the Agent and player and it would set a dangerous precedent if this happened. Chelsea had 40+ players out on loan last season and letting Agents negotiate fees with loaning clubs would slow things to a crawl, as we are seeing with Abrahams.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The biggest cause of anxiety about transfer deals is the blind faith in newspapers telling you the truth about what’s going on.
Brisvegas(Quote)
My biggest anxiety is the deals that have been struck recently and in the last few transfer windows, closely followed by the offers that have been turned down and the announced prices that have been asked.
30 mil for Pickford is insane. 90 mil for Pogna, really. 50 mil for Martial.
20 mil asking for Cairney is insane. 50 million for Dier is not just from another planet but from another universe. 100 mil + for MBappe and Alli.
This is not just newspaper talk.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
BrisV: I know you were not just pointing to pricing but to the journos constant speculation in order to get clicks. But there is a new reality with all of this money that has entered football. This is led by the PL but has infiltrated other countries with the Chinese, Sheikhs and Oligarchs buying up clubs.
The prices are just stupid and journos like Neil Ashton and John Cross just seem to add on 10 or 15 million to a price on a whim. Mbappe is “worth” 80 mil one day and 129 mil the next. They are certainly adding fuel to the fire.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“BrisV: I know you were not just pointing to pricing but to the journos constant speculation in order to get clicks.”
I was ONLY thinking of the speculation. Transfer fees didn’t enter my thoughts in any way.
Just on transfer fees, though, it’s about time they were scrapped.
Brisvegas(Quote)
The speculation was bound to increase because of Sky, social media, the 24 hour news cycle and the migration of “newspapers” online where advertisers pay per click. It used to be that you might pick up a Daily in the Morning and get the Chronicle delivered at 5 at night (I had a paper round so it would be 6 if you had me 🙂 ).
Now, any news or speculation is picked up almost immediately and spread by them all because they all want the clicks. Lee Ryder has a twitter feed FFS and the Chron has a live feed spreading every rumour out there. They have to do it to garner clicks because nobody pays for newspapers anymore. Their bread and butter like car dealers have moved online and the small ads to Craig’s List.
Every rumour is repeated ad infinitum because this is how they get paid now. It is why the Daily Mail online football pages are covered in WAGs’ cleavage and their news pages are half about the Kardasians’ latest tweet and public appearance.
It does render a lot of the “news” useless so I know where BrisV is coming from. Still, what are you going to do!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Ed Harrison who basically rehashes Newspaper stories has had 15 million visits FFS. It is just the way stuff is now. Katy Perry has 100 million twitter followers. I wonder what earth shattering stuff she must say every day? Nice t!ts though 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It all feeds on itself and old media has to compete with not only each other but all of the other ways people get information now. The True Geordie has 250k plus subscribers on YouTube and all he did was rant and swear a bit (no, I am not the True Geordie, he is much better looking).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
A lot of people say he’s not as good as he was and thinks he’s a celebrity now. 🙄 I just see a fat guy with a potty mouth.
kimtoon(Quote)
Blogs been upgraded a bit I see.
Welcome back to the Prem. Hello to all the old familiar names. I’m looking forward see a season of football I can actually watch televised games of the side again.
Wouldn’t be panicking on transfers just yet. As things stand we need to strengthen substantially but still time.
JJ(Quote)
True, yet fans celebrate an offer of 5.2MIL for Colback. Yet we paid more for Hanley.
5MIL is the equivalent of 750K five seasons back.
JJ(Quote)
great to see you back on mate,keep it coming 😆
icedog(Quote)
more trouble for poor old scum,they have to pay Milan over 9mill as they lost the court case,it was about some player,not sure of the ins and outs of the case like
icedog(Quote)
Prediction: Bruce will buy Colback for 3.5 mi. He has managed him before and he is Championship level.
I got Man City on boxing day right with my fixture predictions before.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Bit of a shock, Ant (ant& dec) has been put in rehab to over come the demons he is suffering from 😯
Icedog(Quote)
I’ll drive him down for nowt,so there still mugs knocking aboot,gan on Bruce make it a good start to the season for me
Icedog(Quote)
You will be King of the blog if you get this one right
Icedog(Quote)
Well I don’t know what Rafa has up his sleeve on signings but one thing you must have in the PL ” pace” and plenty of it.
The local rag ( god he’s a ****) are saying the reason the signing are slow is because we haven’t moved out enough players
Icedog(Quote)
Was that really the long lost JJ on? Just in time for the fun mate!
georgio(Quote)
The pre-season matches seem to be a bit of a snooze. Other teams are lifting their profile with games in China and the USA. They don’t ever seem organized about the pre-season and just add a midlevel German team as the last game. Even when they come over to the USA like 2 seasons ago they end up playing low profile teams or in Dallas and Florida in the middle of the summer when it is 35 degrees.
Hopefully, when we get established as a PL team Rafa can get this part of the schedule sorted and give fans a heads up on who and where we play.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are playing a USA El Clasico in Miami and it has been advertised for months. I know we are not in their league, literally and figuratively, but why do we have to be so last minute and why play such sh!te teams?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
A trip to Edinburgh to play Heart will probably be a nice day out, but Bradford and Preston not so much. Are they really the quality of opposition we need to tune up for the opening day against Spurs? It just seems strange that other teams take the pre-season much more seriously and give their global fanbase a chance to see them live.
NUFC.com are reporting that the SJP game might be against Hellas Verona. Never a force in Serie A and I challenge anybody to name a single player on their team without Googling it. We’ll probably see a lot of Romeo and Juliet references in The Chronicle though.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Swansea want £40m for Sigurdsson too. This window is going to be like no other!
Stuart79(Quote)
The stupidest thing is the buy-out clauses used to be set at such ridiculous levels as to scare other clubs off. Now, Man U and Real Madrid just turn up with a cheque book and pay it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And there’s more! Spurs finished second last year but Man U and City can tap up their players like Walker, Kane and Alli by offering to double their wages. They are already rich, but it would be hard to turn down a contract that would set you up for life and where a weeks wages would pay for a kid at Harrow or Eton for a year and set them up for life as well (because that’s how the world works).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Prices for English based players is gone beyond a joke,going to be a long drawn out window
Icedog(Quote)
I also read a story of Rooney losing half a million pounds in a Casino the other week. Now that is bordering on obscene and getting into the realms of farce.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
it’ll all come to a head and be the eventual ruination of many big clubs if they don’t kerb the spending. What happened to ffp rules, I don’t believe that the prices being payed for some of these players is totally covered from income.
kimtoon(Quote)
paid 😳 😯 too hot
kimtoon(Quote)
Your friend is getting done for 700. mil tax fraud,don’t know the full storey yet something to do with investment firm abroad,they are trying to keep it quiet from the press,there’s another footballer involved as well
Icedog(Quote)
Compare Man Us preseason to ours. They are in the USA in a tournament called the International Super Cup. They face Real Madrid, Barca and Man City. Then they face Real Madrid again in the European Super Cup. I hope they get tw@tted in all of these games but that is not the point.
The point is the fans have known who and where they will play for a while now and can plan accordingly. I am not saying we could exist in such rarified air but c’mon, how about games against teams like Ajax, Anderlecht, Porto, Malaga or Marseilles? Teams that would test us and where NUFC fans would like to travel to, and given enough notice, might even take a mini-break to.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Mind you, Man Us preseason is absolutely insane because they also play in Norway and against Sampdoria in Dublin. Money and marketing over common sense. But, there has to be a balance somewhere and Hearts, Bradford and Preston with a few weeks notice is not it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Actually, I am going to go further and say that our preseason is a fckin disgrace, especially if the SJP game is against Hellas Verona. They are a newly promoted side and were in Serie B last year. I know we were in the Championship but that was because of series of disastrous decisions by Ashley, Carr and Charnley.
NUFC do not organize games until the last minute and then pick a bunch of second rate teams in places that are not really attractive destinations for the supporters. We have just spent a season going to play lower level teams:
Hearts – SPL (Scottish PUB League). I think Celtic finished 30 points clear of 2nd team Aberdeen.
Bradford – League 1 (formerly 3rd division)
Preston (Championship, didn’t we just do this)
Hellas Verona (wow, just big fckn whoop. Promoted Serie B team. As I said, if anyone can name a single players on their team I will be shocked).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Hellas Verona were not even Champions of Serie B, they were second.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Hellas Verona, Giants of Italian Football:
In 2013 were promoted to Serie A after an 11 year absence.
In 2015/16 Verona did not win a single game until February when they won at the 23rd time of asking.
2016/17 promoted to Serie A having finished 2nd in Serie B.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
If NUFC are correct we have booked the Birmingham City of Italian Football as our showcase friendly at SJP.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Andy what have you done to this blog ?
It’s like replacing Sir Bobby Robson for Greame Souness!!
Hi everyone, hope all is well.
Terry(Quote)
So Lejeune deal to be completed this week apparently. Let’s hope Jabba and Charnley are back from their holidays in time.
Stuart79(Quote)
yep, Rafa has been hard at work, no holiday for him .
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric, have to agree, our pre season fixtures are decidedly underwhelming .
kimtoon(Quote)
yet another attack, this time on Muslims leaving Mosque . This country is falling into chaos.
kimtoon(Quote)