Over the last couple of weeks the Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle United has caused a stir in the football community, with excitement combined with questions over the ethical implications of the takeover dominating the talk around the Premier League at the moment.
Now it’s here, and not going away any time soon, how can Newcastle use their new financial jackpot in the best way possible for the development of the club and a return to the top of the English game?
It’s obvious that signings need to be made, given the weak nature of the squad at the moment after 2 decades of virtually no investment and the lofty ambitions that the new owners will have. The barebones squad that the club currently possesses isn’t going to cut it if a speedy recovery is going to take place.
In this post, I thought it would be quite cool to dive into some potential new signings that Newcastle could make realistically this January or in the summer window and how their first eleven could look after these transfer windows.
So without any further waffle, we’re going to get into ten signings that we think Newcastle should make.
Numero uno: Ismaila Sarr – from Watford:
Ismaila Sarr is an incredibly talented player, and is always a nuisance for full backs with his electric pace combined with his dribbling ability.
What with Watford being newly promoted and possibly one of the most likely victims of the drop this season, it would make absolute sense if Sarr was to leave the club, maybe not in January, but in the summer window if Watford do end up going down as he is far too good to be playing in the Championship.
Newcastle, with their new pocket money, would be an ideal move for both parties, as Sarr could easily fit into a top premier league team and be a consistent threat from the right hand side.
Basically, he deserves a chance at a good level premier league team, not one that is yo-yoing up and down each year. Combined with the pace and flair of Saint-Maximin, the prospect of Sarr playing in attack for Newcastle alongside him is downright frightening and they would undoubtedly give some defences nightmares if this move were to be realised.
Now onto number two: James Tarkowski – from Burnley:
This is a bit of a boring one to be honest, because just about everyone and their nan’s goldfish is saying this one will happen. But in fairness, it would be a quality signing for the club who are desperately in need of an upgrade in defense, and Tarkowski is a good, prem proven defender who wouldn’t command a massive fee either.
Similarly to Sarr, it feels like Tarkowski also deserves to have the opportunity to play for a top half premier league outfit due to his consistent and reliable displays for Burnley, and Newcastle will likely fit that bill sooner rather than later.
Not a Champions League winning, world class defender by any means, but a considerable upgrade on what Newcastle have at the moment, and so a sensible move for both the club and the player all things considered.
Number Three: Jesse Lingard – from Manchester United:
Since returning from his loan spell in East London with West Ham last season, Lingard has seen very few opportunities with Man Utd after lighting up the premier league from January last season with the Hammers.
At the stage of his career he’s at, he can’t be sitting on the bench every week, especially when most premier league teams would absolutely love to have him on their books.
For the new directors of Newcastle, this would be a brilliant move for a proven player of real quality who would be sure to be one of the first names on the team sheet.
An alternative to Lingard would potentially be someone like Ross Barkley from Chelsea, but there’s no doubt that Lingard would be the preferred target, he just comes with a bit of an extra cost (who am I kidding, that doesn’t even matter).
Number Four: Dominic Calvert Lewin / Ollie Watkins / Raul Jimenez
Obviously Newcastle aren’t going to sign all three of these guys, but these are probably the three strikers that would be the ideal targets for an upgrade up front to play alongside Callum Wilson. The striker position is definitely the most important one to get right due to the lack of goals and excitement offered by Newcastle at the moment.
At the moment Newcastle are playing with two up front, with ASM as the other player with Wilson. Now that the money’s arrived though, you’d hope that the system will change to one that is more attacking and adventurous.
This would probably see Saint-Maximin moved back onto the wing, and it would be sensible for Newcastle to look for another quality striker to bolster their attack if this happened.
I’ve cheated a bit on this one to be honest, as in actual fact either of the three strikers would be good signings for them, with all of them being useful in different ways and styles depending on which direction Newcastle go tactically from now.
Raul Jimenez would be the most balanced of the three as he possesses a bit of everything and has proven to be a reliable source of goals from his time with Wolves. However, it may be hard to tempt him away from Wolves, who are looking very good at the moment sitting in 7th place as of right now.
The same can be said for Dominic Calvert Lewin to be fair, it is unlikely that he would want to leave what he has right now in what would definitely be a step down at the moment.
This is why it’s probably far more likely that Newcastle will move for players like these a year or so after the takeover, once they have steadied the ship and become a more attractive proposition for quality players to go and play their football.
Ollie Watkins: What does he offer?
An immediate option for the club would be someone like Ollie Watkins, who has seemed to have fallen down the pecking order a little bit at Aston Villa, despite him being an incredibly good footballer that most teams in the league would take in a heartbeat.
Something that really stands out about Watkins is his immense work rate, the willingness to chase down the ball relentlessly and harass defenders trying to play out from the back.
His numbers aren’t bad either, last season he scored 14 goals and assisted 5 in 37 games in the Premier League, which is a testament to his technical proficiency and his eye for goal.
In summary, in the short term Watkins would be an absolutely brilliant signing for Newcastle and would really give them a much needed spark upfront and would add a lot more energy to the Newcastle press. For a more long term solution after Newcastle have re-established themselves, a player like Clavert Lewin could be considered, but there’s no reason why Watkins wouldn’t be good enough.
Thanks for reading and have a great day 🙂
