Newcastle United fare going to find it hard to offload their players this summer. The club had stagnated for the past few years in the Mike Ashley era. The signings proved to be mediocre, and the club had several trysts with relegation. But the takeover by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia brought about a new dawn for the club.
Suddenly there was optimism among the Toonside folk. More ambition and financial muscle was promised in the transfer market. A fresh start was on the cards for Newcastle.
However, needless to say, it will not be a walk in the park for the new owners. The winter window was a huge success, where they spent the big bucks to acquire the services of Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guiamares, Matt Targett and Chris Wood. This along with the appointment of Eddie Howe proved to be a decisive moment for the Magpies, as they easily came out of the relegation zone. They made a strong end to the season. This fresh enthusiasm was exemplified by the excellent win against Arsenal on the second last day of the season.
The Problem For Newcastle
This was a good start, but the Newcastle squad still has several issues which cannot be fixed in one or two windows. One of them is the number of unwanted players on big contracts. Jeff Hendrick and Dwight Gayle are two examples of this. The two earn high wages, and have a number of years on their current deals, making them difficult to offload.
In order to make new space for his signings and comply with Financial Fairplay Regulations, Newcastle need to get their wages off the books and look to recoup some transfer fees for these players.
A strong start has been made, but the job is far from being complete. One can however expect Newcastle to be competitive again since Eddie Howe has already shown that he is an extremely competent manager. If the current trend of Newcastle is going to continue, one should not be surprised to see them challenging the “Big 6” of the League
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