Paul Mitchell's search for £36m boost - Newcastle's vital push for player sales

Paul Mitchell has had a frantic start to his life at Newcastle United. Not only does he need to sign new players, replace staff, and help prepare the squad for the new season. He has a more pressing job on his hands; sell the club’s deadwood.

Now, deadwood might be a little harsh, but there’s a clear difference between those in the squad and those who need to be shifted. As fans, we always look at raising the club's ceiling, but something as important is raising the club's floor. One big way to do that is by clearing out some of the club's weakest players.

Welcome Paul Mitchell to the party. When Mitchell joined Monaco, he was tasked with one job “trim the fat”. The situation at Newcastle is not as dire as it was at Monaco, however, it’s clear to see why Mitchell was hired.

The Current state of the squad

Let’s just cut to the chase, Newcastle have several players who need to be moved on. The situation has improved slightly since last season, with Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummet, Matt Ritchie, and Jeff Hendrick.

So far, Newcastle are yet to sell anyone, and it’s likely going to be the next major job for Paul Mitchell, once a move for Marc Guehi is wrapped up. The problem Mitchell will face is the huge wages a number of these players are allegedly on.

• Isaac Hayden - £22k a week
• Jamal Lewis - £38k a week
• Martin Dubravka - £40k a week
• Ryan Frayser - £63k a week

All this data comes from Spotrac, and the data does vary on other sites but that is around 150k a week in wages locked down on players the club doesn’t want. For context, that’s about the weekly wage of Bruno Guimaraes, our highest earner. Crucially, that figure equates to just over £7 million a year, which in the PSR world is the same as signing a player for £36 million spread over 5 years. So, you can see why moving on such players is so important.

Thankfully, Paul Mitchel is good at this. In his time at Monaco, in the three windows after he joined the club sold 32 players, up from 29 in the windows before he joined. The key was the profit he managed to make on these players, though that’s less important for Newcastle at this current time.

Who is likely to leave

Sadly for Mitchell, time is not on his side. Not only does he only have around three weeks left of the window, he’s also trying to offload assets that other clubs have not shown much interest in. So, what news have we got so far when it comes to selling?

Isaac Hayden

Hayden is the most recent player to attract attention from Championship clubs, with QPR, Hull, and West Brom said to be interested. Sadly, these deals are all loans, so at best Newcastle might be able to shave £10k off the wage budget.

Hayden still has two years left on his current contract and with no one interested in making a permanent move for the former Arsenal man it looks like loans are all we can hope for.

Ryan Fraser

Probably the weirdest one of the lot, Fraser has interest from Southampton, the club he spent last season on loan at. But as of yet, no transfer has been reached. Fraser is on big money, and it looks like Southampton is not keen to splash out on any sort of transfer fee at this time.

This move likely goes to the end of the window, and will probably result in Fraser terminating his contract at NUFC.

Martin Dubravka

It’s all gone a little quiet on the Dubravka front with the Slovakian keeper not attracting much interest. With Newcastle having more goalkeepers on the books than we can count, Dubravka might be the most pressing player to get off the books. He is also the one who might bring in even the slightest of fees.

Jamal Lewis

“If Jamal wants to play, he might need to move”. These were the words Eddie Howe had for the former Norwich man. For now, Lewis has featured a fair bit in preseason, and with Matt Targett not ready to return, Lewis will likely at least make the bench for the start of the season. For now, Lewis’ days seem numbered, but it will likely just be another loan for the £15m man.

Show me the money

Now we need to move on to the real money players, and these are the moves that will likely dictate how much Newcastle spend after Guehi. To do that, Newcastle need to save more than just £7m in wages, they need to sell some players.

The latest chatter is that Newcastle are looking to do a loan-to-buy deal for Madueke, similar to the deal they did for Lewis Hall last season. This would allow Newcastle to delay the spending till next season while providing the club with a quality RW asset now.

However, selling certain players might let Newcastle spend more to improve the squad further.

Miguel Almiron

If we sign a new right winger, and, we hope we do, Almiron is going to be crucial to that happening. Talk remains that Almiron is a target for sides in the Saudi league, but nothing has happened yet. Almiron has also previously expressed a desire to stay at the club, which might complicate matters.

But, he would bring in a fee, likely around £15/£20 million, and his roughly £5m a year in wages would help Newcastle going forward. With Murphy, a more than capable backup option on the right now is the best time to move Almiron on.

Callum Wilson

As things stand, we think Wilson will stay. Howe continues to talk up the importance of the striker, and with his current injury keeping him out of action for the start of the season anyway, he’s unlikely to be an asset many clubs look to turn to.

Wilson does, however, only have one year left on his deal. If he can stay fit, the club might opt to just extend his deal another year as Osula continues to develop.

Kieran Trippier

From posing (allegedly) with a scout of a Saudi Pro League side to Howe saying Trippier is as committed as ever. This is likely a saga that we won’t see the back of any time soon. West Ham were the latest side to show an interest in Trippier, but given their interest in Aaron Wan-Bisaka, that move is unlikely.

Matt Targett

Targett hasn’t kicked a ball for Newcastle in over eight months, and, honestly, many probably forgot he even played for the club. Target has struggled for form since arriving permanently, with Burn taking his spot before his injury. Now, Lewis Hall has taken the starting spot, and with Lloyd Kelly and Dan Burn able to play at left-back, Target’s days might be numbered.

Obviously, with his injury, Targett hasn’t attracted any interest, and with so little time left in the window, it’s unlikely anyone will come in with a £10m + bid for him. For now, Targett is likely to stay at least until January, when Newcastle might try again to move him on.

And that’s about it for now. Some other players like Harrison Ashby and Emil Krafth might be up for sale, but it will most likely depend on what happens with Trippier.

In summary, Mitchell has his work cut out, and he doesn’t have a lot of time left to do it. When he does, we’ll be sure to let you know about it here on NUFCblog.