With just two weeks and two pre-season friendlies to go until the start of their Premier League season, Eddie Howe faces quite a dilemma.
Does his Newcastle United squad simply have enough players to compete on four fronts over the 2025/26 campaign?
Having lost the likes of Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson, and Alexander Isak still a ‘maybe’ after exit links, it’s somehow a weaker squad compared to what we had on the opening weekend of last season.
So Howe and the recruitment team intend to be very busy in the next fortnight, with some big additions planned…
Targets named as three positions set to be filled
According to the i’s Mark Douglas, Newcastle plan on signing at least one new striker, right-sided centre-back, and midfielder before the opening day against Aston Villa.
The club views the next week as a ‘moving week’ in particular for the hunt of a new striker, as talks continue with both RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Yoane Wissa of Brentford.
There continues to be quiet whispers about Atalanta star Giorgio Scalvini, as well as fresh reports that we’re once again interested in singing Palace captainMarc Guehi.
But the pursuit of a new midfielder is a particularly interesting one, as Douglas directly names a Championship star as one we’re keeping tabs on.
“It is understood further checks have been carried out on Coventry City’s Jack Rudoni as a possible Sean Longstaff replacement.”
It would be a big jump for the 24-year-old to fill the shoes of Longstaff now he’s at Leeds United, but he’s certainly more than capable of developing into a top midfielder under Howe.
Will three new players be enough for Eddie Howe?
Hypothetically, if any Newcastle fan was told at the beginning of the window that they’d brought in five new players over the summer, they’d have been ecstatic.
However, with the benefit of hindsight, that still might not be enough for Howe to satisfy he and the team’s desire to go far in as many competitions as possible this season.
The Premier League and Champions League XI picks itself, but a criminal lack of quality and depth beyond the starting XI could soon prove to be as big an issue as it was back in the 2023/24 campaign.
To at least salvage something from this current window, three new additions should be seen as an absolute minimum. And should Alexander Isak depart this month, then you could argue we need at least three forwards alone to match his goalscoring output.
Just something on Isaak that I’d been wondering about. Could the refusal to play be a breach of contract and see him fined.
It would make sense to me…?
David Sheldon(Quote)
Think we should go for a left side center back too, to much injuries on botman
Oyvind(Quote)
Botman has run his race, it seems to me, unfortunately.
davewallace(Quote)
They don’t want to be signing Rudoni as he’s not good enough from what I have seen of him.
X.Y,WHY,MAN.(Quote)
Two young CBs is what I would like to see coming In
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
“Newcastle plan to sign three more before Aston Villa trip – Championship star included”
Nice to know what they are planning, because as we know, everything we do seems to go exactly to plan!
BykerBill(Quote)
Why was Isak on the treatment bench for 4 hours ( reported ) if he was training in Spain without treatment that would make the thigh injury worse! Just sell the guy his heart is not in Newcastle, and spend the money on new signings!@@
Peter Beaumont(Quote)
Get in Sesko and give him a chance to settle in before the campaign begins. No time left to argue.
Michael(Quote)
Apparently it’s Curly, Larry and Mo
Phillip Cunningham(Quote)
Let’s all quit the Isak revenge pettiness and look at it from cold businesslike point. PIF know what they’re going to do and it’s what’s best for the club NUFC not teaching Isak a lesson or making a point as these things hardly ever work out right. Get him gone, replaced with 2 quality YOUNG and slightly older strikers who can hit the ground running immediate impact. Bring that young hugely talented Leicester midfield playmaker (10) El Khannous in ASAP, He’ll cook on Tyneside alongside the French powerful, mobile, goalscoring and assisting striker ARNAUD KALIMUENDO Get him on that plane DO IT NOW like Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford seem to keep doing instead of FAFFING ABOUT leaking our plans to media all over the place and getting gazumped at last minute by others That’ll do for me HWTL
Jonah J(Quote)