Newcastle United's Summer Transfer Struggles

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
Newcastle United's Summer Transfer Struggles

This summer transfer window has been nothing short of a disaster for Newcastle United. Benjamin Šeško is the latest high-profile player to opt against a move to Newcastle, and there is still the opportunity for Alexander Isak to leave the club with Liverpool having already had a bid rejected. With around a week to go until the start of the new Premier League season, Newcastle will need to push through more deals towards the end of the window.

Anthony Elanga has been the only major signing for Newcastle so far this summer, costing around £55 million from Nottingham Forest. Since the Elanga signing though, Newcastle's summer activity has been quite underwhelming. There have been a spate of rejections - despite the club having Champions League football next season. On top of that, Alexander Isak wants to leave the club to join Liverpool, compounding issues for Eddie Howe and making this a really difficult pre-season. There have been restrictions on the club's spending power. Newcastle are the richest club in the world but due to PSR, they are limited in what they can spend. The main issue for the club is that their revenue streams are not comparable to the "legacy" clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United and some fans feel that their club can only reach a certain point of progression before being "blocked out" by the Big 6. In this sense, it is difficult for Newcastle to compete off the pitch, despite having relative success on the pitch.

A major contributing factor to Newcastle's transfer woes this summer has been the upheaval at the executive-level of the club. There have been a raft of departures over the past 12 months at some of the most important positions in the club. Sporting Director, Paul Mitchell, left his role in May, and there still has been no replacement CEO found since Darren Eales' departure last autumn. Additionally, Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi also left last summer, which has left a massive hole in the executive structure. With a lack of a complete football structure at the top of the club, transfer activities have been left in the hands of Eddie Howe and Head or Recruitment, Steve Nickson. It has been an unenviable task for the pair of them and the lack of support has definitely played a role in the disastrous summer transfer window Newcastle have had.

So, with a week to go until the start of the new Premier League season, Newcastle United's squad is far from complete. It hasn't been for a lack of trying but there needs to be a breakthrough, especially when it comes to recruiting a striker. Alexander Isak is still very likely to move but the club wants to secure a top-level replacement before sanctioning the Swede's move. There will certainly be a flurry of activity at Newcastle as the transfer window comes to a close and everyone will be watching closely!

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