Newcastle’s search for the ‘perfect’ signing and the right-winger myth

The right-wing situation at Newcastle United is far from ideal. It’s been a priority position to upgrade upon for us for a few windows now, and it’s a position that as of yet, hasn’t been addressed. It’s a shame that it hasn’t happened, there’s no hiding from that.

One of the things which is so noticeable about the club in the market is that they’re *extremely* risk averse. You can’t really blame them for the most part – in the modern PSR era, you have such a small margin for error. You really can’t afford to sign duds.

The result of that risk averseness is that the club are always looking for the “perfect” option. So far, it’s worked.

Literally every signing has come with a high probability of success, and basically all (apart from Tonali of course, yet) have succeeded. Most other teams don’t achieve the success rate of signings that #NUFC have achieved post takeover.

However, there comes a time and a place for risks. Finding our ideal profile of winger is hard – we want a left-footer, who works hard, can play in the half-space, good shot volume and can create.

Apart from Olise, there weren’t really any that looked ideal. And that’s where the club need to make a trade-off with one of those qualities. In order to improve in that position, I don’t *think* we need all of those qualities. You can make a sacrifice somewhere, but admittedly it’s a delicate balance.

Also, we clearly want long-term signings of players U25. Players who can improve, and grow in value. But sometimes, it’s worth going for a peak years player – who might not yield financial value, but solves a tactical problem in the short term. Even the top recruiters do this. Liverpool for example have done it loads – one that comes to mind is Shaqiri.

However, the other crucial point – Jacob Murphy and certainly Miguel Almiron, are nowhere near as bad as people think. Individually, we can undoubtedly improve on both. Not to go all Moneyball, but we can replace that potential signing in the aggregate. It’s less glamorous, not as ideal, but it’s not impossible.

For proof, based on output alone – Murphy and Almiron (who shared the minutes at RW) got 8 goals and 12 assists combined in all competitions last season. *Twenty* goal contributions. 11 for Murphy, 9 for Almiron.

If we bought a winger who got those numbers, that would be a more than decent return. And outside of output, there’s no doubting the out-of-possession work that they bring.

Finding a winger who can get you around 20 goal contributions, fit the other profile needs, be of the right character, be feasible – and fit the budget – is categorically not easy. But it’s also not impossible.

I personally believe we should’ve cast the net a bit wider this summer in our RW search. However, the idea that our current two RWs aren’t serviceable, particularly when used in tandem, with Gordon occasionally moving to the right and Barnes on the left – is a complete myth.

I’d love more quality on that flank, and I’d love some more creativity which Almiron and Murphy don’t really possess. However, this isn’t a factor which resigns us to mid-table, or makes the window a disaster.

Because most importantly, transfer windows aren’t the sole determinant of how a season goes. The summer window wasn’t great, but that’s football. We’re still more than well-stocked to compete for Champions League football.

Let’s just remember the most important part isn’t what happens in the Twitter rumour mill, or in the boardroom. The most important stuff happens on the grass – and I’m confident we’ll make it 10 points from a possible 12 with a win at Wolves on Sunday.