00:00Now, as Newcastle United are the new Premier League season and their return back to the Champions League.
00:07Now, in terms of transfers, it's been very quiet so far.
00:11But, you know, as soon as July sort of kicks in, these transfers start to hot up and there are sort of multiple rumours, multiple more moves.
00:20And Newcastle United are probably going to be a club that are going to slightly make a few adjustments.
00:25I mean, if you have to compare their sort of last Champions League campaign and where they fell short, the squad depth.
00:31Yes, they were very unlucky in multiple occasions against some bigger sides in Europe.
00:36But, you know, their squad depth certainly hurt them with the key injuries as well.
00:41And then fitness issues throughout the season ultimately meant they fell short in their race to return.
00:46Now, they are back in the Champions League.
00:48They obviously have also returned a major trophy as well in the League Cup.
00:53This is a new sort of era, a new start again for Newcastle United.
00:58Who knows where they can go this season?
01:00They want to make sure they are continuing to push on in terms of the transfer activity.
01:04We'll go with our North East correspondent, Dan Wales.
01:07Dan, just talk to us a bit about where Newcastle are, how they are feeling ahead of the new summer, how, you know, the new season, sorry,
01:15how they are activating this summer in terms of where they might need to improve on and the sort of picky parts that they have to get right because, you know,
01:25they want to make sure they are comfortable with squad depth.
01:28They want to make sure they are having a fairly good season domestically and in Europe as well.
01:33So, where are they ahead of this new campaign?
01:36Well, Charles, the first thing to report is that Newcastle would seemingly have missed out on one of their targets for this summer in Jao Pedro of Brighton and Hove Albion.
01:45The young Brazilian attacking player seemingly now heading to Stamford Bridge with a deal being agreed with the London Club, according to various reports.
01:55So, Newcastle missing out on that target.
01:57Newcastle hard bid for Jao Pedro in excess of £50 million.
02:02Chelsea then did the same with the Brazilian, ultimately preferring a move to the capital.
02:07Unfortunately, Newcastle can't really do a lot about that.
02:09Chelsea probably were able to offer more wages as well, which could have been a determining factor.
02:15But, Newcastle remain in the market for several other players, first of which is James Trafford, the Burnley goalkeeper.
02:22That deal is seemingly nearly completed for a fee in the region of £30 million.
02:28Personal terms have been agreed between the player and Newcastle United for some time now, but it's just been a case of agreeing a deal between the two clubs for a transfer fee.
02:38Newcastle also still in the market for a right winger because, of course, Pedro could have potentially filled that gap.
02:44He's very versatile, but now that he's gone, they're still looking at Anthony Alanga of Nottingham Forest.
02:49They did have a bid rejected for Anthony Alanga of Forest in the region of about £45 million, but they do remain at the table with negotiations ongoing.
03:00It's just whether Newcastle also have any other targets in that area that perhaps haven't hit the media.
03:05There are some, of course, on the continent that they've looked at as well, such as Adeyemi, but also you look at Mohamed Kudos at West Ham also being mentioned too.
03:13But I think Alanga is their number one right wing target for the time being.
03:18And, of course, that leaves a bit of a hole at centre-half.
03:21I think if Newcastle were to get Alanga, they'd have filled that right wing slot they need to give some support to Jacob Murphy.
03:27Certainly, with James Trafford coming in, you'd be looking to have competition with Nick Pope in goal, and plus Trafford's age would see him probably become Newcastle's keeper for the long term in the future.
03:38But then you still need a centre-half because if Sven Votman is fully fit for the upcoming Premier League season, then Newcastle will want someone to pair alongside him.
03:46Of course, Votman was injured for large part last season with Fabian Shea and Dan Byrne coming in to do a great job for Newcastle.
03:54But Newcastle do want to secure their back line for the years to come.
03:58Sven Votman isn't yet too old.
04:00They'll want someone of similar ilk to him to come on and be part of the squad as well.
04:05So that still remains to be seen who they target in that regard because, of course, no real names have hit the media yet.
04:11The only real name is, of course, Margui of Crystal Palace, who they bid for last summer but were unsuccessful in their pursuit of.
04:19They bid up to about £65 million, but Palace weren't budging.
04:24And now his name has been banished about again, but Liverpool are also interested in him.
04:29So it remains to be seen whether that will come to fruition.
04:33Certainly, though, Newcastle still looking for a centre-half, potentially another back-up striker or someone versatile in the front line,
04:39as well as Anthony Ilanga of Nottingham Forest to cover the right wing.
