Newcastle United signed Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid, Matt Targett (on loan) from Aston Villa, Dan Burn from Brighton & Hove Albion, Bruno Guimaraes from Olympique Lyonnais and Chris Wood from Burnley in January, so they’ll pulled off some coups while bringing in practical players to improve the squad, but their sights are set even higher this summer.
Eddie Howe said earlier in May that Newcastle plan to sign ‘world-class’ players ahead of next season, and there will be a lot of talented free agents who could be on United’s radar – Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba, Franck Kessie, Paulo Dybala, Ousmane Dembele, Jesse Lingard and James Tarkowski among others.
Newcastle need to sign players whose stock is high to improve their own standing in the transfer market, but players may not trust the project until they’re finishing higher up the table. Frank McAvennie says the Magpies should learn to walk before they run, as they’ll need to be patient and build gradually.
He told Football Insider: “World-class players? No, not yet. I know what they are trying to do. You want the best players at your club – (Newcastle) are staying up and they have a load of cash there. They still aren’t the most desirable club to be at (however). Not yet.
“That will take time. They will still sign quality players this summer, make no doubt about that. But that top tier, best of the best quality of player. It just won’t happen, not for a good few years. That’s still to come but it is far too soon to be talking about world-class players.”
Newcastle are currently 14th in the Premier League with 43 points from 36 games, having turned their season around after a woeful start. They can mathematically finish ninth in the table with a perfect finish, but will that be enough to lure big-name players to St James’ Park?
In other news, Joe Willock injury should see Sean Longstaff start v Arsenal
