Newcastle United January transfer window reality check – A message for the fans

The Mag

·19 January 2022

Newcastle United January transfer window reality check – A message for the fans

We have now moved into the 19th day of the Newcastle United January transfer window.

Once we see the end of Wednesday, there will be 12 more days of this window which will end on Monday 31 January.

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I have found this Newcastle United January transfer window ‘interesting’…to say the least.

The reaction of the fans in particular.

Or more accurately, some fans.

What I like best of all, is the capacity of a minority of Newcastle United supporters to cherry pick certain media reports from the literally thousands of articles, tweets, updates, exclusives etc etc. The ones they choose to believe.

When it comes to any transfer story, you can never believe them 100%, until officially confirmed and photos etc etc. Never mind choosing to believe stuff from one of the legion of nonsense football websites / social media accounts that have come into existence in recent times, or the equivalent of these in other countries.

Yet you will get some fans screaming (metaphorically) and telling the Newcastle United owners to just pay the extra £5m / £10m / £??m that will ‘definitely’ get this particular transfer over the line.

This is a message for the fans – A Newcastle United January transfer window reality check.

The NUFC owners have actually done really well to get both Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood into St James Park already, indeed both were signed in time to be available to start in Newcastle United’s first PL game since the transfer window opened, a match they would have won if not for woeful defending from Miguel Almiron and Jamaal Lascelles with two minutes to go, allowing Watford to grab a draw and deprive Newcastle United of two points AND momentum / confidence.

Yet some Newcastle fans have called the level of transfer action so far, a failure.

Amazing.

To get Premier League ready players in, during January, is unbelievably difficult. No other Premier League club (and those abroad), wherever they are in the table, wants to let anybody go who they might have a use for in the second half of the season. Unless there are intervening circumstances.

Newcastle United were only able to buy Trippier because for family reasons he wanted to move back to the UK now and Atletico Madrid rewarded him with their agreement for this to happen, due to his efforts for them, including helping to win La Liga last season. Whilst with Chris Wood, it was only the existence of a release clause figure in his contract, that allowed Newcastle to buy him.

As for other signings this month, quite clearly the Newcastle United owners are in there pitching for them. Both on loan and permanent deals.

However, you have to have clubs willing to sell / loan out a player, plus that player willing to join you. Yes, Newcastle United may have a certain level of financial muscle now, but NUFC are also in deep relegation trouble. Both Trippier and Wood were up for moving to Newcastle and Atletico Madrid allowed the defender to move, whilst Burnley could do nothing to stop the striker moving, due to the release fee triggered.

Diego Carlos has been named in the Sevilla team that is playing away at Valencia tonight (Wednesday 19 January), so no sign as yet that a move is going to happen soon.

After the latest disappointing result against Watford on Saturday and especially the weak defending that allowed the equaliser and left Newcastle looking vulnerable at other times during the match, there were hysterical calls from some Newcastle fans that Diego Carlos had to be signed ASAP this week so he could face Leeds, or failing that, pretty much any other central defender to sign instead and play at Elland Road.

I don’t see the logic of this whatsoever. Even if say Diego Carlos somehow was signed within the next 12-24 hours, does it really make any sense to throw him (or any other new signing) headfirst into this relegation fight after only one or two (at the very most) training sessions? Especially if somebody like Carlos coming from abroad who has never played in the Premier League before.

We have just seen Premier League regular Chris Wood make his Newcastle debut after just a couple of training sessions with his new teammates AND you had some NUFC fans already wanting to write the striker off! Imagine then a centre-back from overseas who possibly doesn’t even speak English, then thrown into this NUFC defence / team after maybe only one training session!

It was great to get Chris Wood and Kieran Trippier into Newcastle in time to play against Watford and Leeds BUT I think with other signings, it was always very very likely that later in the transfer window was more likely.

After this Leeds match, there is a 17 day gap until the next game, Everton at St James Park on Tuesday 8 February, then Villa visit SJP five days later on Sunday 13 February.

Any further new signings would have at least a week to prepare for Everton with the transfer window ending eight days earlier on Monday 31 January, whilst the reality will hopefully be more like two full weeks for some more new signings to be integrated into the team / club.

It is inevitable that most clubs, even if they are willing one or more of their better players in January, as appears to be the case with Sevilla and Diego Carlos, are going to try and wait on as long as possible to see if other clubs come in for the player and you then maybe have a bit of a bidding war to drive the price up.

Whilst with loan deals, the majority of these tend to happen late in transfer windows, as once again players and clubs wait on to see exactly which clubs show an interest, plus at the same time also waiting late on to make sure their squad has sufficient other options that then allows a player to go out on loan.

I think the next week or more is going to see some intense transfer activity at Newcastle United and I think at least two, maybe three, more signings will be made on top of Wood and Trippier, with almost certainly at least one or two of them being loan deals. Likewise, I think we will see a number of players in the first team squad heading out to other clubs, either on loan or permanent deals. You are only allowed 25 senior players in your Premier League squad, so certain players either have to move out, or they will be left with zero chance of being involved at NUFC for the rest of the season if Newcastle are left with more than 25 senior players when the transfer window closes.

Yes, it would have been great to have half a new team signed on the first day of the transfer window but that isn’t how the real world works. A couple of new signings in time for Watford and Leeds, then potentially that half a new team in time for the remaining 17 PL games after those two, starting with that Everton match on 8 February.

Newcastle United 2021/22 remaining matches:

Saturday 22 January 3pm – Leeds away

Tuesday 8 February 7.45pm – Everton Home (BT Sport)

Sunday 13 February 2pm – Aston Villa Home (Sky Sports)

Saturday 19 February 12.30pm – West Ham Away (BT Sport)

Saturday 26 February 3pm – Brentford Away

Saturday 5 March 3pm – Brighton home (SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE CHANGE DUE TO TV)

Saturday 12 March – Chelsea away (SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE CHANGE DUE TO TV)

Saturday 19 March 3pm – Crystal Palace home (SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE CHANGE DUE TO TV)

Saturday 2 April 3pm – Spurs away (SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE CHANGE DUE TO TV)

Saturday 9 April 3pm – Wolves home (SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE CHANGE DUE TO TV)

Saturday 16 April 3pm – Leicester home (SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE CHANGE DUE TO TV)