Newcastle’s £60m transfer bet revealed – opinion
Newcastle United took a risk in the transfer market this summer and it has shown signs of backfire.
The warblers have been working to improve their squad over the past few months, bringing in four new faces to complete Eddie Howe’s squad ahead of the Champions League.
Boss Toon needed more depth and that’s exactly what he got.
Sandro Tonali added class in midfield, while Harvey Barnes proved far more dangerous in the bottom third than the man he replaced at St James’ Park, Allan Saint-Maximin.
Elsewhere, Newcastle spent £32m to sign Tino Livramento from Southampton.
They have also loaned Lewis Hall to Chelsea, with a contract set to expire next summer for £28m.
That’s £60m spent on backup full-backs.
That’s a lot of money for two players on the bench – especially when money is so tight.
In the long run, this decision will certainly prove to be the right one.
Livramento and Hall both have huge potential and will be stars in St James’ Park.
However, the club’s decision to focus on them instead of a new centre-back seems like a short-term mistake.
Newcastle take a big risk by not signing a central defender
As the summer transfer window approaches, it is almost certain that Newcastle will sign a new right-back.
They wanted someone they could compete with before replacing Fabian Schar.
But that did not happen.
The players that Newcastle want are said to be too expensive or too inexperienced to replace Schar at the moment.
As a result, the Warblers paused their search for a central defender and focused on Hall and Livramento.
However, while Newcastle’s centre-backs have struggled at Brighton, Howe has £60m full-backs on the bench.
Newcastle are lacking a lot of options in defense and really need everyone to keep up the form and continue to show the same form as last season.
That is a big question.
We saw Sven Botman get injured, while Schar got injured in the loss to Brighton.
Elsewhere, Dan Burn has really struggled and Jamaal Lascelles has barely played since Howe became coach.
Center-back is clearly a weak position that the club have failed to address over the summer.
Newcastle have bet on signing players for the future rather than the present, and that risk will take time to offset.
For now, it looks like they made a mistake.
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