Journalist claims 4 or 5 set to sign this summer with Steve Bruce braced big transfer budget

According to Lee Ryder, Steve Bruce will be handed an ‘enticing budget‘ to spend on new recruits this summer.

The Chronicle’s chief reporter is also expecting ‘four or five‘ new players to arrive, suggesting the club could be prepared to go on a spending spree after securing nothing but loans in January.

Here’s what he had to say when asked about our summer plans during the Chronicle’s latest Q&A session:

‘From what I’m told NUFC will have an enticing budget to spend in the summer window.

‘I’d expect four or five new players this summer.‘

While this sounds potentially exciting, it’s another head scratcher that Ashley would hand big money to Steve Bruce (just as he did with McClaren), just after Rafa Benitez left due to his total lack of ambition in the transfer market.

That said, it remains to be seen if Ashley really is here for the long run – even if talk of a takeover has died down over the past week (which could yet be a good thing if silence really is golden?).

Back to the actual deals themselves, two of those ‘four or five’ could involve Nabil Bentaleb and Valentino Lazaro, with respective ‘options to buy’ of £8.5m and £20m inserted in their loan deals.

Bruce has also hinted that Danny Rose is a player he’ll pursue on a permanent deal should he impress, while a purchase option still exists for Jetro Willems by all accounts – despite him heading back to Germany early with a season-ending knee injury.

Elsewhere, it sounds like we aren’t going to give up on Lille star Boubakary Soumare, with it reported that we’ll go back in for him in the summer after news of our failed £35m January bid.

In attack, the links to Bowen (and several other wide men in January) suggest we’re still in the market for a winger, while a striker will surely be a big priority, with it seeming as though Bruce opted against signing one last month as he believed there’d be better forwards available at more affordable prices this summer.

With Gayle and Muto’s days numbered and Carroll to stay fit, the signing of a goal scorer seems essential this summer to give Joelinton someone to learn from or take the pressure off his young shoulders when he’s struggling.

Who would you like to see us bring in this summer?

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)