Newcastle United have already shown this summer that they can work in silence. The move for Sean Steur had come out of nowhere, with no previous links with the midfielder before the deal had advanced. Now, they have done it again.
The midfield was clearly in need of reinforcements. Sandro Tonali has joined Tottenham Hotspur. Bruno Guimaraes is being followed by Arsenal as Mikel Arteta wants him. And Joe Willock could make a move to Turkey.
So, Newcastle United’s midfield could be in need of a lot of quality and experience this summer. And once again the club proved their ability to get things done without it leaking to the media when news broke that everything had been agreed for the signing of Aladji Bamba.
Fabrizio Romano confirms contract has been signed
The move has now taken one step forward. In fact, it is as good as done and Newcastle United fans should expect an official announcement to be made soon.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Bamba has just signed his contract as a new player for Newcastle United, joining from AS Monaco.
The transfer fee reported in the media is in the region of €41 million. That is a steep figure to pay for the 20-year-old French defensive midfielder.
Just like Steur, Bamba only has 25 senior appearances to his name. So, it remains to be seen how much of an impact he can make after coming in.
Are Newcastle United making a grave error?
This does raise a lot of questions around Newcastle United’s strategy of only signing youngsters this summer, overlooking the need to replace the experience that has departed, or could depart, the club.
Bamba is set to become the club’s fourth signing of the summer transfer window after Bazoumana Toure, Ewen Jaouen and the aforementioned Steur. None of them is older than 20.
This could be an error in strategy though. In the recent past, we have seen Chelsea try something similar, bringing in a whole host of highly-rated youngsters.
On paper, it makes sense. You sign youngsters before their valuation reaches its peak and then allow them to develop at the club or somewhere out on loan. In reality, it is not as simple as that. Just look at how the past four years have turned out for Chelsea.
So much so that it looks like they have now tweaked their strategy. They recently spent £117 million on signing Morgan Rogers. The Blues are believed to be closing in on a move for Maxence Lacroix. Both are Premier League-proven players.
Newcastle United should learn from the mistakes Chelsea made. Otherwise, they are at risk of repeating them without any reason to do so.
