Will the Toon’s warchest be overflowing? The news that Newcastle United may finally secure a change of ownership has met with widespread approval from the club’s fans.
A proposed £350 million takeover by Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nahyan – a cousin of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour – has cranked up excitement around St James’ Park.
Newcastle fans have wanted to see the back of current owner Mike Ashley for many years and they are desperate to see the deal go through.
The club’s net spend over the past three seasons has been under £4m, but new ownership could transform their dealings in the transfer market.
Read on as we look at Newcastle’s possible transfer business this summer. (more…)
Islam Slimani – On loan from Leicester. Transfer deadline day saw Newcastle United welcome two new arrivals to Tyneside, plus a number of departures from St James’ Park. All of these deals were just temporary, though, and came late on with the January transfer window slamming shut at 23:00 GMT on January 31st.
Magpies manager Rafa Benitez finally secured a new striker in Leicester City’s Algeria international Islam Slimani, and got another goalie with Slovakia’s Martin Dubravka joining from Czech club Sparta Prague until the end of the season.
Newcastle missed out on England frontman Daniel Sturridge, who chose to make a temporary switch from Liverpool to West Bromwich Albion – a team more fancied in the Premier League betting on relegation with bet365. Feyenoord’s Denmark international Nicolai Jorgensen was another rumoured forward target. (more…)
Out of reach? The start of the campaign was hardly the most inspiring for Newcastle United, following defeats against Tottenham, Huddersfield, and then perhaps most alarmingly, home elimination from the EFL Cup by Nottingham Forest. However, since then form improved until a narrow defeat to Brighton, and it seems the side managed by Rafa Benitez has found a level cohesion, stability and belief in itself.
A positive display and comfortable 3-0 victory against West Ham seemed to light the fuse. Narrow and hard-fought wins against Swansea City and Stoke City followed. All of a sudden Newcastle were parked in the top four with three straight league wins by mid-September, the new signings slotting in nicely, planting the seeds of hope that the 2017/18 campaign may be one to enjoy, rather than suffer. (more…)
IMAGE SOURCE: Twitter.com Rafa Benitez wasn’t able to hide his frustration at the end of August as Newcastle failed to land a number of their primary targets in the transfer window this summer. The Magpies were one of a number of top-flight clubs who voted for the window to be closed prior to the start of the season from next year with the Spanish boss clearly exasperated by the club’s failure to close a number of potential deals.
New Additions to the Squad
The Toon did complete a number of transactions, with several new faces arriving at St. James’ Park, including Norwich winger Jacob Murphy for £13 million, Borussia Dortmund’s Mikel Merino, and former Stoke play-maker Joselu. Eibar defender Florian Lejeune was one of the more eye-catching additions to the side but there were doubts about whether the Paris-born 26-year-old would opt to move to the North East amid interest from other clubs. Javier Manquillo also joins for £6 million to bolster the Newcastle squad ahead of a tough season back in the top flight. (more…)
Cabella – perhaps the player who fans have highest expectations of.Newcastle have been fairly active in this summer’s transfer window, signing six new players so far.
This is just a brief overview of each of them.
Remy Cabella
There’s some argument about how much we paid Montpellier for the attacking midfielder. Newcastle claims it was £7m and Montpellier claims it was closer to £11.5m (Transfermarkt has it at £8.8m).
Louis Nicollin – the Montpellier chairman – has been less than complementary about Cabella’s move to Newcastle. When we tried to sign Cabella earlier in the year, Nicollin said Cabella would be “bored sh*tless” in Newcastle and then, when we finally got him, Nicollin said:
“He wanted to go. I wasn’t happy, but I told him, ‘Congratulations’. In England, there is Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, which are above Newcastle, but Newcastle is a club with a lot of French. He likes them, so great.(more…)
