The Mag
·05 de julho de 2025
Newcastle United halfway there

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Yahoo sportsThe Mag
·05 de julho de 2025
Newcastle United now at the halfway point.
The 2024/25 Premier League season ended on Sunday 25 May 2025, whilst the 2025/26 Premier League season kicks off for United away at Villa on Saturday 16 August.
Which makes it 12 weeks ‘rest’ for the Newcastle United players and ourselves, now today (Saturday 5 July) we are at the halfway point of this close season, six weeks gone and six weeks to go.
How are you feeling about it all?
I know the reflex reaction of many of you will be simply to point to the Newcastle United signings that have been made so far, or rather, not made…
However, I think we have to look at the overall picture.
Twelve months ago
Go back to 5 July 2024 and Newcastle United fans were still in shock.
The previous month it was suddenly made public that United were £50m+ on the wrong side of PSR for the three years of accounts that would run up to and include 30 June 2024.
Unless Darren Eales was successful with a quadruple rollover Euro Millions ticket, Newcastle United in deep trouble.
Alternatively, sell one or more of our star players for more than £50m by the end of June 2024.
Or the third option, sell two of the most exciting young Newcastle United squad players for £68m.
United went for that third option.
Last summer final result
Last summer made it a year/two windows without a new first team contender coming in (this of course became three windows in a row when you included January 2025), as the PSR situation meant no progressive transfer business.
Free agent Lloyd Kelly signed for NUFC. An initial £10m transfer fee was agreed for Will Osula, one for the future. Newcastle United had an obligation to make Lewis Hall a permanent £28m deal after his year on loan. Whilst Odysseas Vlachodimos arrived simply due to Forest also needing to get back inside PSR limits – so his £20m signing essential, or else Forest wouldn’t do the £35m Anderson deal that was needed to get United back inside PSR limits as well.
The whole thing felt like a mess behind the scenes at St James’ Park.
This was to a backdrop of the previous season being the worst ever for injuries in Newcastle United’s entire history, plus the Sandro Tonali suspension on top of that. How on earth Eddie Howe still got Newcastle to 60 points in the 2023/24 season was unbelievable, only six points off fifth and eight behind fourth.
Reality was though that as we stood at 5 July 2024, Newcastle United were a club that hadn’t qualified for Europe, had finished seventh in the Premier League. Now forced to sell two of their bright young prospects and not having the freedom due to PSR to bring in new first team players for the 2024/25 season.
On top of all that, Tonali’s suspension would carry on into the opening stages of the 2024/25 season, plus reports of a fair few of the injuries that had plagued players during the 2023/24 season were going to carry on as problems into at least the early weeks/months of the new 24/25 season.
Moving forward from 5 July 2024 to 5 July 2025
I am not going to claim that things are now perfect, not yet anyway.
However, one year on and this is a far different scenario than we were looking at back in July 2024.
Eddie Howe oversaw a remarkable season, especially the final six months of 2024/25.
Silverware won and Champions League football secured.
All of this achieved despite injury and fitness issues impacting so many key players in the final stages of the season – Hall, Botman, Isak, Gordon, Joelinton…
Thankfully no international tournaments with their countries this summer for Newcastle United players, nor indeed any FIFA Club World Cup impact for NUFC.
A chance for rest and recuperation and many players shown doing fitness work ahead of pre-season starting, not least the likes of Botman, Hall and Joelinton.
Every chance of a fully fit Newcastle United squad as we hit the new season.
Not to mention that we will also have the brilliance of Sandro Tonali to call on from the very start of the 2025/26 campaign, having found out just how GOOD he is last season.
This calendar year we also saw calculated risks taken when reducing the available 2024/25 NUFC squad still further, January outgoing deals for Kelly and Almiron will generate around £30m, almost all of it pure profit from a PSR perspective.
Summer 2024 saw it impossible for progressive Newcastle United signings to be made, unless one or more key players had been sold, which would have been not very progressive at all.
We have done the hard yards of three transfer windows without a new first team signing, we have bottomed the squad out and taken those calculated gambles that have paid off. A trophy and Champions League football secured whilst at the same time those Kelly and Almiron sales significantly improving the PSR position and transfer situation moving forward.
Now we are into July 2025, Newcastle United have also now dropped off from their new three year PSR accounting period (1 July 2023 to 30 June 2026) the big losses season of 2022/23, as well as of course the big loss season of 2021/22 having already dropped off previously.
It is now time to reap the benefits.
It is now time for Newcastle United to go again and they will.
Just like in 2022 and 2023, Newcastle United are now able to make big progressive moves in the transfer market and they will. Unlike summer 2024 when it was impossible.
A trophy winning Champions League qualifying team and squad is going to be further improved with more signings chosen by Eddie Howe, whether Paul Mitchell was an issue with that or not is now very definitely not relevant. I feel a lot more comfortable with his departure by the end of June 2025 than I did with Minteh and Anderson in June 2024!
I understand why other Newcastle United fans are frustrated as we wait for major incoming transfer business but with £135m already bid in transfer fees, the intention to properly back Eddie Howe is clearly there. It turned out that £50m for Joao Pedro was never going to succeed as he wanted to go to Chelsea, but with £55m and £30m bids for Anthony Elanga and James Trafford made respectively now, I am very confident we will shortly be seeing them join NUFC for pre-season preparations.
As we approached 2024/25 it looked a near impossibility on many levels for Newcastle United to improve and progress and yet Eddie Howe and his players achieved that.
Now that is going to be built on further and I for one can’t wait to see what can be achieved in 2025/26, WITH new signings added.
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