It has been widely reported that no takeover means Steve Bruce will be in charge when it comes to overseeing the summer transfer window alongside our current recruitment team.
It is further reported that he will have a budget of £35m plus any sales he can make.
Now to me £35m is woefully inadequate for a Club that is supposed to be “progressing” and looking to go higher than 13th. It’s just enough money to plug the gaps and improve the side in the way that we need if we’re going to be top ten contenders or higher.
It might not even be enough to have a squad capable of fighting off relegation. I mean when you consider the excellent Ollie Watkins of Brentford is valued at £18m and he’s not even proven PL quality it shows what you get for your money. So, sales could be crucial.
With that in mind The Chronicle have named seven players we could cash in one this summer to raise funds. They are Yoshinori Muto, Jacob Murphy, Fabian Schar, Florian Lejeune, DeAndre Yedlin, Rolando Aarons and Christian Atsu.
No real surprises there for me with the possible exception of Lejeune. However, with our current ownership I would imagine any player in the squad has his price so let’s hope that Allan Saint-Maximin, Miggy Almiron, Martin Dubravka and Jamaal Lascelles don’t find themselves victims of the failed takeover and used to generate funds.
I looked up the current values of the not-so magnificent seven. Remember these are market values and not necessarily the amount we would get for them. It could be higher and it could be lower but if we sold all seven, we could expect to raise approximately £35 and double the budget.
Here’s the breakdown, with the prices quoted based on Transfermarkt.com’s current valuations
- Yoshinori Muto – £4.95m – Only 28 games played since signing from Mainz in 2018 and only 2 goals. Looks like he could be a player but at the top level I’m not so sure. Plus, he hasn’t been given an opportunity to show his ability. Always seemed like a publicity signing and won’t be helped by a new striker being the absolute prime incoming requirement.
- Jacob Murphy – £3.15m – Showed glimpses of promise but was never able to sustain it at a consistent level. Sheff. Wed. have been impressed with his contribution on loan and perhaps the Championship is his level. No sleep lost if he moved on.
- Fabian Schar – £11.7m – Arguably our biggest saleable asset that we’d not miss given our cover at Centre Back. Last season and at the beginning of this it would have seemed unthinkable that he’d be on his way. But a dramatic loss of form and seemingly poor attitude sees him surplus to requirements. Still a talent and a current International so might be worth cashing in on.
- Florian Lejeune – £4.32m – A surprise to me this one but then I thought perhaps not. He’s definitely PL class when he’s fit and always looks a really cultured and intelligent player. But the fact remains that he’s been very, very injury-prone and it might be that which ultimately decides his fate.
- DeAndre Yedlin – £5.85m – Has made no secret of the fact that he thinks it’s time for him to leave and is targeting a return to his homeland and The MLS. On decent wages and in the last year of his contract. With Manquillo and Krafth in front of him it might be better all-round to let him go. Plus, he’s really not been on it at all since restart.
- Rolando Aarons – £0.4m – A really frustrating one this. When he burst on to the first-team scene he looked like a world beater and definitely one to watch. Another though struck down by the injury curse and when he came back loans appeared to be his best option but he’s never really impressed anywhere he’s gone. Now 24 years old I think his time has gone at NUFC.
- Christian Atsu – £4.32m – A player I honestly would never have bought. Yes, he has at times look good but nowhere near enough of the time. Plus, he’s another one that couldn’t force his way into the picture during restart. It seems a few Championship sides are looking at him. Hopefully one of them might make a bid.
The thing with the Pandemic and COVID-19 is that no-one can be quite sure about prices and what Clubs want.
Man. City, Man. Utd and Chelsea are already committing big and look frightening and that’s before the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham get started.
We simply cannot compete with these type of Clubs in the transfer market, certainly not when we only have £35m and sales to spend!
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