These concerns on Newcastle United transfer window – Trust the process | OneFootball

The transfer window has been open 24 hours and Newcastle United haven’t signed a single player!

Yes, difficult to believe isn’t it, a shock to the system.

Well at least it appears to be for some Newcastle United fans.

With the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United having already agreed deals on new signings, that has only accentuated the concerns (panic?) of these Newcastle fans.

I think that especially with Matheus Cunha going to Old Trafford and Liam Delap to Stamford Bridge, the feeling for some United fans is that this is two of our top targets that have been now been taken.

Even though there is absolutely no solid proof that Newcastle United were seriously interested in these players, if at all, that doesn’t stop some fans believing the worst. In some cases, they seemingly want to believe the worst, only happy when unhappy about supposed NUFC transfer failings.

For me, it is simply trust the process.

The same process that has delivered astonishing success during the past three and a half years that Eddie Howe has been here.

Transfer success after transfer success from January 2022 onwards.

No manager and club have done better than Eddie Howe and Newcastle United when it comes to pound for pound quality that the money available has bought.

Whilst for those who wanted to believe that Paul Mitchell would be dictating to Eddie Howe which signings were made from now on, well that conspiracy theory is out the window now.

Whatever has or hasn’t gone on behind the scenes (and none of us know, including/especially the journalists!), I don’t think it was ever a case of Eddie Howe not having the final say on any signings, which meant I was never concerned about the relationship with Paul Mitchell. With the Sporting Director now leaving at the end of June, that conspiracy theory is well and truly buried. Though to see and hear the way some fans reacted to that news, as though it was devastating for NUFC, you would think it had been Eddie Howe who was leaving.

Eddie Howe and Newcastle United don’t carry out their transfer business in public. The Marc Guehi one was the exception that proved the rule and the fact that went so public appeared to be very much from the Crystal Palace end of things. As their owners wanted to make a big thing to the Palace supporters of refusing to sell their captain, at a time of losing other star players and not spending very much on replacements.

The class signings that Newcastle United have made, the first we know about it, the deals have always been pretty much already in place. Bruno, Livramento, Hall, Tonali, Barnes, Gordon and so on. Botman we only knew about the interest because United had tried to get him in January 2022 but the player had told them they’d have to wait as he wanted to finish Lille’s Champions League campaign that season, before moving.

Hugo Ekitike was another (eventually failed) one where the other club were the ones to make it very public knowledge, possibly with the intention of eventually getting more eventual cash from another club (PSG).

I believe Newcastle had some interest in Liam Delap and maybe some vague interest in Cunha as well.

However, this is in the context of Eddie Howe and the Newcastle United recruitment team having countless players of interest for every position. It always makes me laugh when any journalist runs a story and tries to make a big deal of somebody from NUFC going to scout at a particular game, guessing which player(s) they have gone to watch. What do they think all these scouts and others who work in recruitment are doing in their jobs??? They are going to watch countless players, often numerous times. This has been detailed often in the past after United have made a big signing, that they have been watched over a long period of time, to try and ensure they will be successes at St James’ Park.

The simple fact is that Newcastle United can’t afford the kind of failures that the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United make on a regular basis. No matter what happens, the Chelsea owners’ most valuable asset (their creative accountants) ensure they can carry on spending no matter how many disastrous signings, whilst the money making machine that is Man U allows the same.

Chelsea have wasted around £400m in recent seasons just on the likes of Felix, Fofana, Mudryk, Sterling, Nkunku and Lukaku.

Man U the same, wasting £400m just on Hojlund, Antony, Sancho, Varane, Mount and Onana.

That is only one portion of what each of those two clubs have spent on players these last three or four seasons, many more players at Chelsea and Man U not proving worth anything like what they paid.

However, those 12 players listed above for Chelsea and Manchester United costing around £800m alone on transfer fees, never mind wages, then becoming liabilities that they even struggle to move on, never mind getting performances on the pitch out of them nor much of their transfer back, if any at all.

If Eddie Howe and the new Newcastle United owners had taken over from Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce, then shown similar judgement to Man U or Chelsea in the transfer market, just imagine what state United would be in now?!!!

I think Newcastle United will spend serious money this summer BUT they still have to do it wisely. We can’t afford to go down the Man U and Chelsea route of being blindfolded, spun round half a dozen times and then given as many darts as we want to throw and try to just hit the dartboard, never mind the bullseye!

With one or two more decent transfer fees coming in via the sale of squad players to help, I wouldn’t be surprised to see as much as around £150m spent this summer and three or four new NUFC first team contenders come in for next season, a couple of squad players as well.

However, Newcastle United being held to ransom on transfer fees and/or wages that just don’t make sense, just aren’t going to happen.

I have every confidence that, even if it takes time, Eddie Howe and Newcastle United will continue to get the right signings, at the right transfer fees, on the right wages.

It is a fine balancing act and one that has got us this far, just a case of continuing that BUT with now a lot more to offer new signings, both in terms of potential success on the pitch, as well as the level of (fair and reasonable) wages off it.

The right signings at the right price this summer can progress Newcastle United even further. A bit like the old snakes and ladders though, expensive mistakes could send us down a very long snake, having already climbed successfully so many ladders.