Social media and Newcastle United transfers. Don’t you just love this time of the year?
Last season has only just finished and already the rumour mill is in full swing this summer, with lots of fans like me scouring X (Twitter) and Facebook each day for the latest news on potential incomings.
After the disappointment of last summer’s non-event of a transfer window, and the subsequent miraculous achievement of Champions League qualification (we were 12thin the league after a 4-2 away defeat to Brentford on the 7thDecember) fans are right to be excited about the summer ahead.
Like previous summers, the club have already been urged countless times by fans on social media to sign specific players for whatever amount of money it takes. Bryan Mbeumo springs to mind. He’s already become this summer’s go-to name.
My message to fellow supporters is que sera, sera, whatever will be will be. We’ve never had this much competency over transfers in our club’s history. Trust the club to get it right.
Since the takeover took place and Eddie Howe came in, I’m struggling to think of a bad buy we’ve made. Every player they’ve bought has contributed significantly to the success the club has gone on to have over the past three years and 192 points later.
If you compare this to other clubs who have squandered hundreds of millions of pounds on relative duds (Mudryk to Chelsea, Antony to Man Utd, Nunez to Liverpool), we’ve got pretty much every marquee buy right. Yes we’ve not made enough signings in recent windows and that must change this summer, but that was largely down to PSR; which is not the same issue it was 12 months ago.
Our success rate on transfers has been absolutely incredible. The club has proved they know what they’re doing and deserve your trust. Yet on social media Eddie Howe seems to have garnered a reputation for only buying British, Premier League proven players.
When presented with signings such as Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Sven Botman and Alexander Isak, where is the evidence for this? Is it coincidental that our upturn in fortunes has come since he took charge? Yes, he’s supplemented those buys with a core group of English players (Pope, Trippier, Burn, Gordon etc) but so did Bobby Robson 20 years ago (Woodgate, Bowyer, Bellamy, Bramble, Jenas, Cort to name but a few) and he also took us to the Champions League.
We have a manager who is not only meticulous on the training pitch, he’s meticulous on transfers and talent identification too. When we buy players, it’s clear and obvious we’ve scouted them extensively and we’ve done our homework on them (a 10 month Sandro Tonali betting ban aside). Let him and our scouts do their work. Especially Steve Nickson and Andy Howe, who are clearly brilliant at their jobs and see potential in players like Desire Doue and Hugo Ekitike long before they go on to showcase their talents on the biggest stage.
We are not only buying players for the here and now, we’re buying for the future too and developing those players through great coaching into elite players. Buying Anthony Gordon at 21, Tino Livramento at 20, Lewis Hall at 18 as well as Sven Botman and Alexander Isak at 22 are all evidence of this strategy in play. This should help to give us long term success.
If we don’t buy a soon to be 26-year-old Bryan Mbeumo, don’t be surprised, just know that club has a plan, has done its research and more often than not we get it right under Eddie Howe off the pitch and on it.
Also I note that the names we are linked with are not the players who turn up.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Great article Olly, and yes very true. 🤞🤞
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Toon chiefs throw a lemon and catch a fish
Blythfilz(Quote)
Well said and bang on, a few days passed and the negative neds are out in force. How do they not understand the facts that most fans know, PSR. But we will bring in more class players as mentioned and turn them into superstars and the envy of the so called top six. Hwtl
Kiddafromthetoon(Quote)
Sorry, Gilly Its not Olly its David Kitchen.
nutmag(Quote)
Well said David a ray of light in amongst the fog of click bait .. your spot on .. more please
Mike(Quote)
Oops, sorry David, my apologies! 😳
Gilly Toon(Quote)
David – I’d love for you to reply but I know that doesn’t really happen with article writers on here.
I want to agree with you mate coz I truly hope you are right – however I’m keen to know what you base it on?!.
I wholeheartedly agree the players we have bought have been excellent to a man – even Minteh who didn’t play for us has proven to be a talent.
But all of those players were signed by Ashworth. How do we know Mitchell has got it right when he’s not signed anyone?!.
I know people will say his hands were tied because of PSR – but we were chasing Guehi last summer for anything between £50-70m. The fee might be up for debate but Palace confirmed we were sniffing.
We’ve waited again to a summer transfer window to make big changes to the backroom staff – how can we be confident we’re all on the same page when we don’t know who’s coming in to sign these deals off??.
Steve Nickson & Andy Howe don’t have the clout to sign players, so to my mind I fear this could be another non event.
I’m not too fussed about individual players – if Mbeumo wants big wages, off you go son. But if we don’t bring quality players in then I see our better players questioning our ambition and looking for big wage moves themselves – but what worries me more is if Howe thinks what’s the point?!.
Howe has made it clear he’d like players in early – they owe it to him to make that happen.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Thanks David.
I used to get in a twist over transfers at one time, but I just sit back and wait and see now. I NEVER believe gossip on twitter and whatever, most of our signings under this lot came out the blue. I know we did nowt of late but that’s PSR shafting us and most other teams.
I will judge at end of window, and enjoy laughing at all the know nowt in the know’s on twatter.
kimtoon(Quote)
I know it’s a long window, but Howe has said we need to get players in early and I absolutely agree with that. It’s important to get them gelling with the team in pre season to get the best out of them.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Hi Sharpy,
I base it on the past transfer windows when we’ve had money to spend (and spent it wisely) and having faith in the best manager we’ve had for at least 20 years.
Without Eddie Howe, I probably wouldn’t have the same faith but his ability to drive the club forward despite the relative underperformance of his colleagues at boardroom level gives me confidence. Time will tell if I’m right and hopefully it’s a summer that delivers on expectations.
Thanks,
David
David Kitchen(Quote)
David – I hope you are mate.
My fear comes from the fact those past player purchases were overseen by Ashworth.
I agree entirely about Howe, but he didn’t seem to favour the appointment of Mitchell but the club did it anyway.
Howe also said he would like business done early – and whilst I appreciate the window has only been open 4 days, other clubs are already signing players with MU and Lpool well on their way to multiple signings.
We are already missing out on some of his target players with our focus being on a new CEO and director of football – despite knowing both would be leaving well before the beginning of this week.
In short, the apparent lack of urgency is concerning to me .. BUT there is time, so let’s see 🤞🏼🤞🏼
Sharpy17(Quote)
I can’t stand the hypocrisy of the likes of Gary Neville and the ex MU players.
I saw him on Sky Sports yesterday talking about the recruitment of Cunha and Mbeumo being great signings for MU and the club showing they are backing the manager early in the window 🤯.
This from the fella who has questioned in Amorim (or his formation) was right for MU?!.
But that aside. He’s rightly knocked the extent of money saving measures employed under Radcliffe – then backs the money spent on these 2 players.
Let’s start with Cunha. There was no negotiation for the player – he had a £62.5m release clause and they paid it. I reckon Wolves would have absolutely taken £50m with an add on of £10-12m if they make CL.
That may only be a £10m save – but that’s a wage 🤷🏼♂️.
Mbeumo is on £45k at Brentford and is demanding £250k to join MU – and they are prepared to pay it 🤯.
The reason Chelsea are sending Sancho back is coz MU put him on £300k – the reason Villa are sending Rashford back is he’s on more than that. The reason they haven’t been able to shift Casemiro or Maguire is coz they have these players on huge wages!!.
I listened to GNev say this time and again when twisting about all things wrong with MU.
Radcliffe is saving pennies sacking cleaning and stopping school dinners, whilst wasting millions on bad manager & player deals.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they are bad players – just bad deals by a club already a billion in debt.
I can’t understand how they are allowed to keep spending in all honesty.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I think our issue is going to be – do we increase our wage structure to keep up with what the top 6 clubs can afford to pay. But if we do that would have to result in our transfer kitty reducing coz we can’t afford to do both.
We have players like Miley on £5k and Hall only on £7k – in comparison to Tino who is on £50k. Increasing their wages to Tinos would effectively coz what we are paying Botman (£90k a week).
But then you have our top players – Isak being the obvious example. He’s on £120k just now and in the process of negotiating a new deal.
Bruno is our top earner on £160k – so let’s say Isak becomes top earner on £200k (which considering what Mbeumo is wanting is realistic).
The increase in wages for Miley, Hall and Isak alone would be around £45m alone (based on them signing 5yr deals).
So say we sign Mbeumo for £60m and doubled his current wage (90k pw) – that deal would be around £85m.
Theres around £130m on 3 contract improvements and 1 signing – pretty much all our CL money gone 🤷🏼♂️.
Sharpy17(Quote)
It’s why I think we’ve missed a trick with Kelleher.
Brentford will pay a total fee of £18m for him.
He was on £10k at Lpool – so let’s say they pay him £30k.
That would be a total spend of around £25m for a keeper with loads of PL experience.
The fee being mentioned for Trafford is around £30m.
He’s currently on £25k with Burnley, so if we double that (Pope is on £60k) – there’s an extra £13m.
£43m v £25m 🤔
Sharpy17(Quote)
Last one I promise.
It’s while I think we should be acting fast on James McAtee.
He’s currently on £15k at City, so if we buy him and put him on £50k – the same as Tino and Longstaff for comparison.
If we can get him for £20m – a 5 year deal would be a £33m buy – which is good money.
** Before people jump all over my maths, I know the contract is over 5 years so I’m wrong to calculate the full 5yrs into the spend**
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good points Sharpy! I thought Kelleher would’ve been a good buy too! Especially at that price. But if we want Trafford then I don’t know what we are waiting for. Pay the price or make an offer and get him in. I’d offer Pope back to them as part of the deal.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Agree on McAtee as well. Excellent player, and we can sell Willock.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I know we are showing an interest in Pedro at Brighton – I say we should have got him from Watford 😡.
But, what about Evan Ferguson from Brighton?
I know he’s had a forgetful loan spell at WH this season – BUT the fact he had a loan spell at a PL rival suggests he’s not in Brightons plans.
The lad is only 20 and showed some promise at Brighton.
I think it’s going to be difficult to find a CF who knows they will play second fiddle to Isak – but at the age he is, maybe he’d be one to develop.
Loan to buy move for £20-25m would be a decent move imo.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I had forgotten about Ferguson. Didn’t he score a hat trick against us a few seasons ago? Definitely got something about him and still young. Good call!
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Gilly – he did mate. I think he’s had a couple of little niggly after that that stopped him kicking on and didn’t really get a sniff at WH last season but they obviously had their issues.
If we could get a loan to buy deal for him I’d defo do it. But if they would only sell – if it were around £20m I think I’d still jump on it. He’s only 20 and worth the risk I reckon.
When you look at Kane, it took him til around 22-24 to really get going.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I know Ferguson isn’t the superstar back up to Isak that we all want – but I’m not sure we can get that player based on how good Isak is.
But with Ferguson, Osula and even Gordon or Barnes – I think we’d have cover enough for Isak.
As for CBs – not excited by the Gomez link. I rated him a while back but he just seems too injury prone for my liking.
My choice would be Tomori from AC Milan.
It might not blow people way, but my revised list would be:
Trafford
Tomori
McAtee
Madueke
Ferguson
Sharpy17(Quote)
It’s mint craic this site like 🙄
Sharpy17(Quote)
Aye mate I sometimes talk to myself too! 🤷🏻♂️. But there’s thee and me. 😂
I’d be happy with that list mate. It would certainly improve our squad depth.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
A couple of good youngsters coming through too.id like to see this Cordero, and Vaktang something? Not to mention Miley and Neave, Alex Murphy, Sanusi etc
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Current best window allowing that for every bid we need a back up.
So in goal Trafford appears to be the target but Anatoliy Trubin from Benfica is 23 and according to TM £25m
Similarly we seem to think Marc Guéhi of Crystal Palace is our young partner for Botman, he’s 24 and TM value him at £45m but Ousmane Diomande from Sporting Lisbon is younger, 21 cheaper £40m and better.
Up front Evann Guessand from Nice is a versatile right winger, only 23 and value at £25m. He is just as happy playing CF, and given that I don’t think we could pull off the dream of Rayan Cherki at £45m He’s a lot better than Elanga who prefers the left anyway.
If we still want a specialist CF then Lorenzo Lucca from Udinese is 6′ 7″ tall, 24 years old, £22m according to TM and plays a lot more than just a tall target man. Alternatively there is Mika Biereth from Monaco who is 22 and valued at £30m
Which brings us to the midfield. Our first choice three is pretty set and with Miley available we have four good CMs. If Willock or Longstaff go then they need replacing. So I’ve found a Defensive mid and an Attacking mid. Mateus Fernandes from Southampton and Nico Paz from Como who at 20 is £35m.
So, GK Trubin, RCB Diomande, DM Ferandes, AM Paz, RW Guessand and CF Lucca for a grand total of £162m according to TM.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem, you need to get on the phone to Eddie and Steve Nickson lol! Some good suggestions there mate.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I mean we would have two good teams there.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Anyone watching Spain vs Portugal? Some great football on display.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Some amazing players. I cannot understand why Chelsea haven’t bought every one of them! 😂😂😂
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I really don’t like these links of Tino to Manchester City! We must not sell either of our full backs. Tino and Hall are the future of our club, not to mention England too.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Watching this England side I’m quite amazed. I didn’t think we could be worse than when we played under Southgate but I was wrong. This is dire.
When I see this, I fear for Eddie as I think Tuchel cannot last long. 😬
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I think all the England players are walking around with blinkers on, especially Kane. Pass the f’ing ball! What an awful performance
Gilly Toon(Quote)
😂😂😂😂😂😂 what a total pile of sh.ite this England team is.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
90 PLUS minutes of my life I won’t get back, that was poor.
kimtoon(Quote)