This explains why Newcastle United a little more relaxed on missing key summer signing | OneFootball

A strange summer for Newcastle United fans.

The transfer window an endless debate that was missing a final conclusion.

In the middle of the 2024 European Championship in late June, we saw a flurry of activity in and out.

Anderson and Minteh sold to cover the PSR shortfall, whilst Kelly and Hall became permanent signings and also a couple of curious incoming goalkeeper deals, one of them part of a PSR double deal with Forest that saw Anderson head the other way.

The remaining two months of the summer 2024 transfer window pretty barren where Newcastle United were concerned, the club bringing in as many Sporting Directors as they did new players. Paul Mitchell and young raw striker Will Osula arriving in July and August respectively.

As we all know, the final four weeks of this summer transfer window ended up all about Marc Guehi.

Breaking news on Friday 2 August saw reports of a £50m bid made, that claimed to be only the first of four or five, with Newcastle United eventually said to have gone up to somewhere between £65m and £70m, including potential future add-ons. However, the window ending with no Marc Guehi deal completed by Newcastle United.

Clearly Eddie Howe was disappointed but to me at least, he was far from devastated.

I would say he was fairly philosophical about it all, unlike many/most fans!

Eddie Howe saying that if you can’t get the right players in a transfer window, then sometimes that is just what happens. The NUFC Head Coach making clear that then shifting and bringing in not the right players, would be by far the worst case scenario. Far better to wait and spend the limited (but still hefty) funds on the right player(s) in future window(s).

This is my theory, explaining why Newcastle United a little more relaxed on missing key summer signing Marc Guehi, than most fans are.

First up, this is the Newcastle United schedule to end of November 2024:

Saturday 17 August – Newcastle 1 Southampton 0

Sunday 25 August – Bournemouth 1 Newcastle 1

Wednesday 28 August – Forest 1 Newcastle 1 (NUFC won 4-3 on penalties) Carabao Cup second round

Sunday 1 September – Newcastle 2 Tottenham 1

Sunday 15 September 2024 – Wolves v Newcastle (4.30pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 21 September 2024 – Fulham v Newcastle (3pm)

Tuesday 24 September 2024 – AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle (7.45pm) Sky Sports+ Carabao Cup third round

Saturday 28 September 2024 – Newcastle v Man City (12.30 pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 5 October – Everton v Newcastle (5.30pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 19 October – Newcastle v Brighton (3pm)

Sunday 27 October – Chelsea v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports

W/C Monday 28 October – Carabao last 16 match if NUFC beat AFC Wimbledon

Saturday 2 November – Newcastle v Arsenal – TBC

Saturday 9 November – Forest v Newcastle – TBC

Saturday 23 November – Newcastle v West Ham – TBC

Saturday 30 November – Crystal Palace v Newcastle – TBC

This is the crazy state of affairs these days in modern football, not only do we have an international break after only three Premier League matches played. We then also have one in October and one in November (the fourth and final international break is inn March).

Anyway, as you can see from those fixtures above, the net result of all these international breaks, actually works in Newcastle United’s favour.

Incredibly, in the first 16 weeks of this season, until we get to the weekend of Saturday 20 November, Newcastle United only play 11 Premier League matches.

Then to sum up this crazy way of doing things, Newcastle United (and the rest) have nine Premier League matches in only six weeks, this is without taking into account domestic cup matches and of course for a number of clubs, European matches on top.

Anyway, back to (and most importantly) Newcastle United’s specific situation.

Here are a couple of announcements that were made six months ago, back in March, a cruel double blow.

Newcastle United official site – 20 March 2024:

‘Newcastle United defender Sven Botman will undergo surgery next week after suffering a knee injury against Manchester City

Following further assessment, a scan has confirmed that he sustained an injury to his ACL during Saturday’s match and he is expected to return to action within six-to-nine months.’

BBC Sport report – 31 March 2024:

‘Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles is expected to be out for “six to nine months” after scans revealed he needs surgery on a knee injury.

Lascelles ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during Saturday’s win over West Ham.

The 30-year-old will have surgery next week.’

The two Newcastle United central defenders expected to be back playing by the end of 2024 at the very latest, both Botman and Lascelles to be missing for between six and nine months, back playing first team football sometime between September and December.

I think all of this above helps explain why Eddie Howe and others at the club, don’t see failing to sign Marc Guehi in this latest window as the disaster that many/most Newcastle United fans do.

Steve Parish has came out this week and said that selling Marc Guehi this summer had finally become all but ‘impossible’ for Palace. With fellow central defender Joachim Andersen having left in the window and one of the defenders they signed quickly getting injured, Parish indicating only a ridiculously high offer could have potentially seen then still sell Marc Guehi in the final few days of the window.

Eddie Howe appears to have indicated that Guehi was the one he really wanted and could only see half-hearted alternatives who wouldn’t have been of anything like the same level. Sporting Director Paul Mitchell saying that Newcastle United weren’t prepared to pay that ridiculous amount that would have potentially meant Guehi still coming to Tyneside in August.

Obviously all kinds of factors can come along in the meantime and change things BUT I can very much see Newcastle United signing Marc Guehi in January 2025, with Palace having these next four months to line up a replacement. Maybe even a provisional deal already agreed in advance of that next window.

I see and hear Newcastle United fans questioning why didn’t the club then just sign a central defender on loan, as cover in the meantime? It’s funny how these people can never actually name any of these loan only brilliant defenders Newcastle United could have easily brought in for a full or half season.

Who are these players?

You have to surely be talking about players at the top clubs, if these loan targets did/do exist, so exactly why would any of the usual suspects choose to do us a favour??? Newcastle United are a serious threat now to the established order, we aren’t the joke we were for a decade and a half under Ashley.

As for clubs on mainland Europe, even if they for some bizarre reason had a quality central defender they were willing to let Newcastle United have just on a loan deal, how long would it take Eddie Howe to get them up to Premier League speed AND then his Newcastle United speed? That is, if they ever got up to speed.

Newcastle United have currently got as defensive options, the likes of Livramento, Trippier, Krafth, Burn, Schar, Kelly, Targett, Hall and the emerging Alex Murphy.

Any late window signing, even Marc Guehi, wouldn’t have started the opening three Premier League matches, now there are only eight more PL games for NUFC before we get to that weekend of Saturday 20 November and the 12th one, against West Ham.

Newcastle United do very much need to sign a young long-term first choice option central defender at some point who can naturally play on the right of the pairing but it is not an emergency, it is not a crisis. Fabian Schar has been outstanding ever since Eddie Howe rescued him (and us) from Steve Bruce, he is still only 32 (no age for a central defender) and has just given up international football to devote himself solely to Newcastle United.

We are now coming up to six months into the recovery of both Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles and I think very soon there is every chance we will soon getting official news of the realistic countdowns for both players to return to first team action in the next couple of months.

After three Premier League matches in the opening two weeks of the season, we now have eight in the following 14 weeks. By the time things are getting a lot busier in late November, I think we would be really unlucky not to have at least one of Botman or Lascelles back available, if not both of them.