مدير عام كرة القدم
Like a disappointing all-inclusive holiday, Newcastle’s summer has not gone to plan. The Magpies’ qualification for the Champions League via a fifth-placed Premier League finish was expected to preface some significant improvement to the squad in the transfer window with their Profit and Sustainability Rule (PSR) fears allayed, but so far it’s been a story of rejection and "frustration".
Despite the near-limitless financial backing of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the PIF, multiple key targets have opted to move elsewhere, with just one major signing completed to date. And to make matters worse, there is serious speculation surrounding star striker Alexander Isak, who is evidently so unsettled that the club has been forced to take action.
Unable to land their desired players and facing the grim reality of their talisman leaving before the window closes, Newcastle’s summer of discontent only looks likely to get worse…
Like a disappointing all-inclusive holiday, Newcastle’s summer has not gone to plan. The Magpies’ qualification for the Champions League via a fifth-placed Premier League finish was expected to preface some significant improvement to the squad in the transfer window with their Profit and Sustainability Rule (PSR) fears allayed, but so far it’s been a story of rejection and “frustration”.
Despite the near-limitless financial backing of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the PIF, multiple key targets have opted to move elsewhere, with just one major signing completed to date. And to make matters worse, there is serious speculation surrounding star striker Alexander Isak, who is evidently so unsettled that the club has been forced to take action.
Unable to land their desired players and facing the grim reality of their talisman leaving before the window closes, Newcastle’s summer of discontent only looks likely to get worse…
The summer has been characterised by high-profile near misses for Newcastle, who have made one major signing so far in the form of the costly £52 million ($75m) capture of Anthony Elanga from Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest. That deal aside, it has been a story of repeated rejection.
At one stage or another, the Magpies had been in the running to sign the likes of Liam Delap and Joao Pedro (both of whom joined Chelsea), Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo (both of whom joined Manchester متحد) AND Dean Huijsen, who has long since joined ريال مدريد.
Just as it seemed Newcastle might finally be set to end their streak of snubs, the Tynesiders were brutally gazumped by Liverpool despite a big-money offer for Eintracht Frankfurt‘s Hugo Ekitike, with the striker now bound for Anfield rather than St. James’ Park. Primary goalkeeper target James Trafford, meanwhile, is increasingly being linked with Manchester City despite the Magpies’ pursuit of the Burnley shot-stopper having been trailed well before the transfer window opened.
The Magpies now find themselves desperately trying to push beyond their current status as ‘Big Six’ disruptors, going head to head with the planet’s leading clubs in the transfer market for a higher calibre of player in their bid to cement themselves as top-four regulars and lay the foundations for future title tilts.
But for a second summer in a row they are having to face up to a reality where they are still struggling to compete with the established order, despite their mega riches and the additional offer of Champions League football, and financial restrictions mean this is a problem they can’t simply throw money at.
Manchester United may have finished 15th last season, but the allure of one of the biggest clubs on the planet is still strong; Chelsea are, of course, based in London – a playground for the wealthy – and their return to the Champions League and unexpected Club كأس العالم triumph is said to have put top stars on notice that they are back on the up; Man City have Pep Guardiola in the dugout and have already completed the transition that lies ahead for Newcastle, from new-money pretenders to established serial winners; Mikel Arteta is a massive draw for Arsenal, who are closer than ever to finally ending that Premier League title drought and the appeal of being part of that is significant.
Through no fault of their own, Newcastle simply can’t compete with that legacy, geographical location or the potential to be part of a genuine title challenge, and that is not something that is going to change in the short-term, even if they technically have the bank balance to absolutely dominate.
Head coach Eddie Howe has not hidden his exasperation with the situation, perhaps in an effort to trigger a reaction in the market from those above him in the Newcastle hierarchy. Speaking after the damning 4-0 pre-season friendly defeat to Celtic, he pulled no punches.
“It has been a really frustrating summer,” he conceded. “We’ve been very close to signing several players and for different reasons – there’s not one theme why we haven’t signed more – we’ve ended up missing out on a few who would have made a difference.”
The 47-year-old also hinted strongly that the club are struggling to attract the very best talent on the market: “The one most important factor in any transfer is the player has to want to come to Newcastle. We’re a very proud club and are proud of what we do, so any player has to feel that. If they don’t, for whatever reason, I don’t think it’s a healthy transfer. Every player we have signed to this point, that’s gone on to be hugely successful with us, has had that desire to come.”
In a rather bleak final statement, he added: “I’d say I’m hopeful rather than confident because we’re not in control of the market or agents, players and other clubs. I can assure everybody we are a hundred percent on it and trying to do things quickly.”
It had been thought that the one enduring upside for Newcastle in this transfer window was that, having secured a return to the Champions League and the revenues that come with that achievement, they were not under any pressure to sell to fall in line with PSR. That was supposed to make talismanic striker Isak untouchable, especially off the back of a prolific, 27-goal season and with three years to run on his contract. However, the picture has changed very quickly despite the club’s insistence that the Swede is not for sale.
First, Liverpool rocked the boat significantly as it emerged the Reds were prepared to stump up in the region of £130m ($175m) to snatch Isak in what would have been a Premier League record transfer. Newcastle’s Saudi owners are said to have intervened to ensure the approach was rebuffed, but that wasn’t the end of the story.
Later the same day, it was reported that Saudi giants Al-Hilal – who, like Newcastle, are owned by the unfathomably wealthy Public Investment Fund (PIF) in the Gulf State – were weighing up their own mammoth offer for the 25-year-old. Perhaps tellingly, that news was not given the same short shift that Liverpool’s interest was, and Howe was forced to take action – sending Isak home before the friendly against Celtic due to the intense speculation surrounding his star player.
It was a decision that has only intensified the scrutiny around Isak and the club as a whole, but the head coach remains “confident” that the forward will still be on Tyneside when the transfer deadline has passed on September 2.
“It was my decision,” Howe admitted after the defeat in Glasgow. “I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him. The last thing he wanted is to be sat in the stand watching, that wasn’t fair to him. But I’m confident he will be a Newcastle player come the end of the window.
“Yes, I’ve had discussions with him, but that’s not abnormal. I respect a player’s career and how short it is. Alex has been really good, he’s trained really well and I realise there’ll be noise around him. We have a few of those players who are irreplaceable. Your top players are so hard to find, so hard to recruit and so hard to develop. So when you have them, you need to treasure them. Of course we’re desperate to keep him as part of our team.
“I think it’s difficult for me to give 100% clarity on any player. I’d never sit here and do that because it’s football and you never know what can happen. But Alex is happy at Newcastle. He loves the players he plays with, the staff, the team and I’ve never had any issue with him.”
Newcastle’s woes were deepened by Liverpool swiftly shifting their focus to the main object of their own desire in Ekitike, who is now set to complete a £79m (£106.5m) move to Anfield after the Magpies’ £67m ($91m) offer was knocked back by Eintracht, leaving them with their talisman unsettled and another key transfer target fallen by the wayside.
As if things weren’t already bad enough, the rather inflammatory words of one of Isak’s representatives to a Saudi publication will have only soured the mood around St. James’ Park further, amid reports that the player was open to discussing a blockbuster transfer to the Middle East.
“We are indeed studying and analysing all options, and we may be close to finalising the next step for the player,” the unnamed agent told Arriyadiyah. “Without revealing any details regarding whether Isak will transfer or stay with Newcastle.”
Of course, when an agent gets involved there is always the possibility that it is a fairly obvious ploy to extract new-and-improved terms from their client’s current club, and the following day it was claimed that Isak was demanding a £300,000-per-week contract to stay at Newcastle.
Newcastle now find themselves in the unenviable position of not only having to battle to make signings, but also to cling onto their star player. Their dilemma is that the two matters are so intertwined, with the former set to influence the latter.
Howe has admitted as much. “Finances of course play a huge part. I think anyone who doesn’t think that’s true is deluded,” he said. “We aren’t the biggest payers in the league because we don’t generate the most income. So we have to fall in line with PSR and we have to be very smart with what we do. And so we have to control the wages of the players that we have and that all plays a part in who we can attract.”
It’s easy to forget that Newcastle made basically no major signings last summer, other than following through with an obligation to buy Lewis Hall following his loan from Chelsea, yet they still managed to qualify for the Champions League and claim a first piece of domestic silverware in 70 years by winning the Carabao Cup.
They have a manager and squad capable of repeating that feat or even going a step further, but after a summer of rejection and “frustration”, Howe is right in his assertion that the club must be “smart” in the transfer window – perhaps by seeking out the next Isak or Bruno Guimaraes – and keeping their star striker is central to that. Now is the time to readjust their sights and expectations, before it’s too late.
