The Newcastle revamp that needs to start this summer

It’s no secret that this summer is a crucial one for the club in terms of recruitment.

A new, robust striker to replace Callum Wilson, an upgrade at RW and a defensively minded midfielder, or a “number 6” to to use the parlance of our time are all rightly mentioned as immediate priorities to improve the first team and push on. Given this season’s defensive woes, and the fact that both Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman will likely be missing for the rest of the calendar year, strengthening the defence is going to be as crucial as any other department, and not just in the short term.

Since the takeover, the average age of the squad has been dramatically reduced, and the clear blueprint of signing potential to develop is bearing fruit. Numerous links to potential defensive targets have began to surface recently, which is a positive, as the club are clearly aware that replacing the vast majority of the current pool of defenders over the next two to three windows is a high priority.

Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Jamaal Lascelles, and Paul Dummett are all over 30, while Emil Krafth joins that exclusive club this summer.

Whilst Dummett’s contract expires this summer, Krafth and Lascelles will be retained next season. Unfortunately, most of the club captain’s new one year deal will be spent recovering from his aforementioned ACL injury. It’s safe and sad to assume the club are planning on life without him. Burn and Schar still have plenty to offer, and will play plenty of games next season, especially with some form of European football now appearing very likely. Trippier will be an interesting one to watch after his Bayern Munich links in January. While the club decided at the time he was too important to let go, a similar offer this summer could be tempting, and the club may feel that short term pain for long term gain is the way to go, in the murky and boring world of PSR spreadsheets.

Both full back positions appear to have been well…

Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/04/29/the-newcastle-revamp-that-needs-to-start-this-summer/

Author : Jamie Elliott

Publish date : 2024-04-29 06:01:25

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.