Newcastle United Transfer Latest: Magpies must get house in order as window progresses

National World - LocalTV

Daniel Wales and Joe Buck look at the latest Newcastle United transfer news.

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00:00Now, Newcastle United lost 4-0 on Saturday afternoon in pre-season against Scottish champion Celtic

00:06in what was Newcastle's first public pre-season outing of the campaign.

00:11Slightly embarrassing, you could describe it as, but perhaps it was to be expected.

00:17Newcastle, of course, are a couple of weeks behind in terms of fitness than their opponent Celtic,

00:21whose season starts on the 3rd of August, whereas Newcastle's, of course, starts on the 16th.

00:27So that, perhaps, was against them in the game.

00:30But, of course, Newcastle, as well, having only made one signing so far this summer in Anthony Lange

00:35and have actually sold or let go some players as well.

00:38Of course, Sean Longstaff has now gone to Leeds.

00:40Callum Wilson has left the club on a free transfer, amongst others.

00:44So, Newcastle, perhaps, just not quite ready and not quite at it yet in terms of pre-season.

00:50That is slightly a concern, though, because, of course, they are going into a campaign

00:54where they will be competing in four competitions, the Premier League, the Champions League

00:59and the FA Cup and League Cup.

01:01And now, the last time Newcastle competed on four fronts, of course, they were subjected

01:05to a huge injury crisis in 2023-2024.

01:09They came back at the end of the season and finished the season quite well.

01:12They finished 7th but ultimately missed out on a European place in the Premier League.

01:16And so, realistically, Newcastle know they need more signings and a bigger and more quality squad

01:22to compete on all four fronts in the season ahead.

01:26But something is just not quite happening for them in terms of transfers incoming at the moment.

01:31Of course, the loss of Paul Mitchell, a sporting director, has left a bit of a hole at the club.

01:36The structure seems to just not be quite right and as if things are just taking too long.

01:40Of course, they've missed out on a good few targets so far this summer,

01:43although they do seem as if they will keep a hold of Alexander Isak, their star striker from Sweden.

01:49So, things just not really looking too good at Newcastle at the moment

01:54but they still have time.

01:55That's crucial to make things better ahead of the new season

01:59but certainly they need to improve their structure at the top

02:02in terms of their recruitment and overall running of the club.

02:04But in terms of incomings, what do they need?

02:06Well, let's go now to Joe Buck of the Shields Gazette.

02:09Joe, what do you think Newcastle are needing when it comes to incomings

02:13and who should they be targeting in the last few weeks of the window?

02:18Yeah, I think for me the priority has to be in centre-half.

02:21I think last season Fabien Cher and Dan Byrne did really well,

02:24not just to stay fit but the level of performances they put in week after week.

02:27But I don't think you can rely on that next year.

02:29Obviously, Sven Bottmann is coming back and it's great to see him back.

02:32How long he can stay fit for, no-one really knows.

02:34You know, the player himself won't know.

02:36The staff won't know how many minutes he can play next year.

02:39So, I think centre-back has to be one of their main priorities.

02:44Whether that's someone who can, you know, like, for example, Mark Geh,

02:47he can come in and start every game.

02:48Or whether they go for someone abroad and think, right, we're going to have,

02:51like they might do with that, give them a year to bet in

02:53and then they become the starter sort of next season.

02:56That's a decision they have to make.

02:58But, yeah, the money they're going to spend or they've already spent already,

03:01potential negative game means that there is limited, not limited funds

03:05because that makes it scare-monger and that they haven't got much money.

03:08But there is, you know, there is a limit of what they can spend because of PSR.

03:14Selling Longstaff and Willick does open up a few doors and unlocks a little bit.

03:18But, again, if you sell Longstaff and Willick, for example,

03:20you're then going to have to probably buy another central midfielder

03:22because you're going to go into the season with, you know, really four options.

03:25And if you stick to the 4-3-3 formation, that's, you know,

03:29that's not very many other options if there's an injury in there.

03:32So it's a lot of moving parts.

03:35And I think the James Trafford one for me is one that it would be a shame

03:40for them not to get it done because we know how much, you know,

03:42James Trafford wanted to join, how much they admire him.

03:45But when you've got Nick Polk there and Martin de Braff

03:47their short end last season, you've got probably two very solid goalkeepers

03:51and maybe you can knock that priority back till next year.

03:53But all that does, if you do wait till next year to sign a goalkeeper,

03:57every club in World Football knows how desperate you are for a goalkeeper

03:59and then their prices, you know, increase.

04:02So, yeah, it's a real tough situation.

04:04I do have a lot of sympathy for anyone making transfer decisions,

04:07but particularly in Newcastle because, yeah, it's not an easy decision.

04:10Anything you do now has a knock-around impact in 12 months' time.

04:14And, yeah, it's going to be a very interesting summer.

04:16I think they have to get rid of players.

04:18They have to get better at player trading.

04:20And that's one thing that they've not done, well, for the last 10 years,

04:2415 years, really.

04:25They need to sell players at their peak of value.

04:27And as much as it might be getting any out of the squad,

04:29the money is so crucial.

04:30They need to sell players.

04:31And if that is long-staffed this summer, then it is a shame.

04:34But he's a player who's on the fringes of the team.

04:36There's lots of options currently in midfield.

04:38And it is a deal that sort of makes sense,

04:41especially without risking losing them on a free next year.

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