According to The Mail, Newcastle United will be in the market for SEVEN new signings should we seal a top-four finish.
As revealed by North-East reporter Craig Hope, we are keen to bring in a young back-up goalkeeper, right-sided centre-back, left-back, a holding midfielder, a creative midfielder, right-sided winger and young striker.
It’s thought that a list of top targets is yet to be decided on – final decisions may wait until our Champions League fate is decided – but we’re expected to see ‘significant investment’ if a top-four finish is secured.
It’s well documented that we are looking to strengthen many of the positions above, yet this is the first report I’ve seen on our plans to sign a young goalkeeper and striker.
Both would make sense. We have plenty options in goal, but with Gillespie and Karius out of contract, Darlow likely to leave after enjoying a loan spell in the Championship and Dubravka’s future up in the air as he plays second fiddle to Pope, I can see the logic.
Up top, Wilson isn’t getting any younger and we’re yet to replace former back-up option Chris Wood, so another striker able to compete with and learn from the likes of Isak could be ideal.
With European football on the way, we also need strength in depth. After injury issues for Wilson and Isak this season, it would be wise to bring in a third option.
An orthodox left-back to replace Dan Burn is clearly high on our priority list, while an athletic right-sided centre-back would be a wise signing to compete with Fabian Schar. With us only having four midfielders (Bruno, Willock, Longstaff and Joelinton) to fill three roles, adding two more options to our engine room could be key if we’re to maintain our high-energy approach when competing on three or four fronts.
As for a right winger, the likes of Moussa Diaby were heavily linked last summer. He stayed put in the end and Miguel Almiron has never looked back since, however, it looks like we’ll reignite our long-term interest in the Bayer Leverkusen star.
