Talks over a £55 million trade for Guehi between Newcastle and Palace are “positive.”
To cap off an odd summer for Newcastle United, it was a suitably bizarre note. The close season of unexpected change at St James’ Park culminated with the image of Kieran Trippier, whose Newcastle future is still up in the air, shyly lifting the Sela Cup as a reward for defeating French team Brest. The reality is that a team whose ambition is curtailed by the Premier League’s sustainability and profitability restrictions (PSR) nevertheless lives in uncertainty.
The club is still figuring out how things will operate this season after a brutal scramble to comply with PSR in June, the departure of co-owner Amanda Staveley, and the appointment of Paul Mitchell as director of football. The issues Eddie Howe raised in Germany are relevant today.
And with a quiet July, all eyes will be on Mitchell’s performance in the last three weeks of the transfer window, as Newcastle is expected to be “extremely busy,” according to a person with knowledge of the preparations. A flat summer market has altered things, as it has for the entire Premier League, making it harder to offload unwanted players and cutting into profit margins.
“We expected the dominoes to begin to fall, but that hasn’t happened at all. “This summer has been the most challenging I’ve ever experienced,” a Premier League executive informed me late last week. Insiders tell me that PSR is still a concern for the Magpies, limiting their ability to acquire players who can have a significant impact on the game until they sell. Despite their connections to Newcastle’s majority owners, their June experience has obviously made them more cautious, and they are not receiving any favours from Saudi Arabia or the PIF-owned clubs there.
Howe now thinks they will bring in one player, instead of the two that were originally planned, along with a young forward who signed last week in the form of the talented William Osula, with Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace being the main man to watch. Recently, constructive and upbeat talks have resumed in an effort to close a substantial valuation discrepancy of up to £10 million.
Given Guehi’s enthusiasm in the move and the mutually agreed upon terms, it seems likely that they will reach a compromise of £55 million with attainable add-ons. It speaks for itself that Newcastle is willing to spend a club record amount. The fragility of the situation was highlighted by Fabian Schar’s injury, which prevented him from playing much of a game during the victory over Brest due to a twisted ankle. Everything seems so different from those early years when Newcastle was thought to be the wealthiest team in the world.
That was never the case, but PSR has caused Newcastle a great deal of issues. PIF are long-term investors, and sources claim they insist that any money committed must have a demonstrable value in the future.
Throughout his coaching tenure, Howe has consistently maintained that nothing is guaranteed by money. “I’ve always had the attitude and view that what matters most is the unity you can create inside your group, not the calibre of that group. “It’s about having a never-say-die mentality. Work, relationships with other players, and a close-knit group are what really buy you those things; money cannot.”
Naturally, it’s good to see your team grow and to have access to additional resources, which we can’t really use right now. I wouldn’t alter it, though. Given the circumstances, I believe we must make the most of what we have, and I promise that we will do just that. But it’s not all bad news either. They appear stronger as a result of players coming back, and management is eager for Sandro Tonali to return in less than a month.
Additionally, they possessed a large enough roster to overcome two teams destined for the Champions League in a single day during the weekend. On Friday, they easily defeated Girona, and the following day, they defeated Brest with less ease. A goal by Harvey Barnes, who entered the game from the left and scored past Marco Bizot, ended a contest in which Osula had some excellent play. If they can stay away from off-field incidents and have one or two newcomers who are healthy, they could pose a threat once more. Howe stated, “I hope that next season, no matter how we play, you will see a team that gives it everything they have.”