I’ve been thinking about all the wonderful players we are going to sign in the next few weeks and wondering where and how they will fit into the Newcastle United first-team squad?
There is lots of talk of us having to sell in order to buy and the emphasis has very much been on PSR.
However, the truth is that Newcastle has too many senior players at the club anyway.
So selling is needed just to make room.
Here is a list of those senior players currently needing to be registered in the 25-man Newcastle United first-team squad for the Premier League.
Goalkeepers
Vlachodimos
Ruddy
Gillespie
Pope
Dubravka
Defenders
Trippier
Livramento
Ashby
Krafth
Schar
Lascelles
Botman
Burn
Kelly
Targett
Midfield three
Bruno
Joelinton
Longstaff
Willock
Tonali
White
Front three
Isak
Wilson
Gordon
Barnes
Almiron
Murphy
That’s 27 senior players fighting for 25 places in the Premier League Newcastle United first-team squad, so two have to make way. And that is before we go buying new senior players.
For completion, we also have Miley, Hall, A.Murphy and possibly A.Harrison who don’t need a squad place as they still count as under 21s but could, I think very much will, be available to the senior squad this coming season.
And so the first question is; who are the two that make way for the initial squad?
My personal answer to that question is Dubravka and White. Either on loan or permanently. They won’t get game time at NUFC next season save for another injury disaster.
We’re more than stocked up on goalkeepers, three of whom have just signed new deals with the club, the other is Pope our clear number one. Dubravka is the odd man out and will no doubt move on.
White was used as cover in our midfield three last season when he still counted as an under-21. He is now at an age that he needs to be registered in the senior 25 and I don’t think he’s at the level he needs to be to claim a spot.
That said, given Miley’s injury and Tonali’s ongoing suspension he may stay until late in August to cover, bt I expect he’ll be sent back out on loan or move permanently, once Tonali is available.
Then there is the question of who leaves to make space for the superstars we’re about to sign.
Well, it seems that we’re after a right-sided central defender, a right winger, and a forward. If we get them we need to have three more spaces in the 25-man squad. So who loses out?
Personally, I’d not give Lascelles a place given he’s very likely to be still out for the first half of the season. He can earn it back once fit, but he doesn’t need it for now, and it gives us a bit of space and time to improve without losing players.
That leaves two more places. If we get a right winger then Miggy will probably be off. Which leaves one. Not that I think Miggy going is guaranteed. There has been interest in him but he didn’t seem keen on the idea of going to Saudi Arabia and that was where the only offer seemed to come from.
That last place, I think, depends on Trippier and Wilson. They have both received interest from other clubs in the last eight months and may want to move while they’re still able to get a good signing fee. Neither is now guaranteed to be the first choice and that will, I imagine, influence their decisions. If we lose either of them then the last space is sorted.
If they both stay then Ashby or Targett become the least disruptive choices. However, I think both would be loans rather than transfers. I just don’t think any club will pay money for players that had their seasons interrupted so badly by injury.
There are, of course, others that haven’t been included in this list, but the likes of Hayden, Fraser and Lewis are all well aware that they are no longer needed at the club and have all had loans spells away over the last two seasons or so.