Newcastle have still yet to make a first-team addition with just over three weeks left in the season. In fact, we are currently a diminished entity from the last campaign with Joe Willock’s return to Arsenal.
There have been recent claims that Newcastle are confident of landing the 21-year-old midfielder back on loan at some point this summer. The latest update comes from Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie who tweeted the following on Thursday.
Newcastle hoping their move for Joe Willock can be accelerated after Emile Smith-Rowe signed a new contract at Arsenal. Steve Bruce said on Saturday he’s “badgering away” at Arsenal over the free-scoring midfielder #NUFC
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) July 22, 2021
However, as Steve Bruce re-iterated after the friendly on Sunday, the ball is in Arsenal’s court. No matter how hopeful Newcastle are, the matter is almost entirely out of their hands.
Bruce has moved on to other targets while Arsenal decide on Willock’s future. Newcastle have reportedly been in discussions over three transfer targets this past week. All are midfielders as Bruce has stated the position is depleted.
Midtjylland’s Jens Cajuste is a 21-year-old Swedish international but could cost upwards of £13m. The defensive midfielder is in demand and Bruce’s reported budget doesn’t suggest a deal can be made without more financial backing from Mike Ashley.
Newcastle have spent much of this past week in talks for Mario Lemina. It seems to have been a colossal waste of time as he has jetted off to France to complete a deal with Nice. The fee has been reported to be anywhere from £3.5m (The Mail) to £4.7m (The Athletic).
What really stings is the Gabon international was really rated by our scouting team and could have been brought in before pre-season started if Mike Ashley had sanctioned the move. Even the high end of £4.7m would have been a bargain for the experienced midfielder.
Newcastle have also been in discussions over a loan move for Conor Gallagher. The 21-year-old was a target last summer before landing at West Brom. He’s more of an attacking presence than Cajuste or Lemina and would be a very good addition.
The Northern Echo is reporting that Ross Barkley has now emerged as a serious option for the midfield. Like with our other targets, we face stiff competition as Everton, West Ham, and AC Milan are also in pursuit.
There were reports last year that Newcastle were after the 27-year-old but he ultimately went on loan to Aston Villa. This time around, Chelsea have slapped a £12m price tag on the former England international in the hopes of offloading him this summer.
The roulette wheel of targets continues to spin round and round. Before pre-season, it was defensive targets gaining the bulk of attention but now Newcastle seem focused on adding a couple of midfielders.
There needs to be a breakthrough sooner rather than later. The start of this campaign is fast approaching and Newcastle United are falling behind the rest of the pack.
108 comments so far
cht2015
Jul 23, 2021 at 10:54 AM
Comment #1Everton, West Ham also interested…no way do we beat either club to his signature. Pointless even trying.
Lee Charnley Bunga Party
Jul 23, 2021 at 10:54 AM
Comment #2Got to be a no for Barley he was poor for a villa wasn’t even first pick when Grealish was injured and they were in horrendous form
Villa are also a lot more attacking than we are
Romford mag
Jul 23, 2021 at 10:56 AM
Comment #3That last paragraph is nothing new , is it !
Romford mag
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:00 AM
Comment #4NY
From the early hours :
That’ll be because I’m so predictable 🙂
And no mate I’m really not 😀
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:09 AM
Comment #5Morning all.
You know nothing much is happening when most of the discussion is about past managerial failures and how much we miss SBR.
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:13 AM
Comment #6Or Star Wars, or what lake to take me boat out on, or the Academy lads (bless em) feel sorry for them in this outfit.
Quiet old time, but really shouldn’t be.
We should be buzzing this time of year, this is what 14 years of MA has done to us! Death by investment starvation and lack of ambition. 😉
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:15 AM
Comment #7My word, I’m bright and cheery this morning. 😉
Time for a coffee and scone, see if I come back refreshed and optimistic. 🙂
No holding of breaths now, don’t want any accidents. 😀
Toon67
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:20 AM
Comment #8The club is borrowing money from HSBC, to fund new players or to cover operating losses because of Covid, who knows.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06861426/filing-history
RonVanDam
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:20 AM
Comment #9There are better players out there than this ass clown
geordie157
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:20 AM
Comment #10Gallagher would be a much better player to loan than Barkley.
All the focus on midfielders, which yes we do need one or two if they are better than what we have. Let’s just hope they haven’t forgotten that we need a striker and a right back too.
lesh
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:23 AM
Comment #11cleveleysbob
Sounds like you need a large G&T.
😉
Ketsbaia9
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:24 AM
Comment #12We need 2 right backs, 2 left back, 2 centre backs, 2 holding midfielders, 2 box to box midfielders, 1 winger, 1 playmaker and 3 strikers. Very poor squad at the moment. What a disaster losing Lemina to Nice.
Aces-of-Eights
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:27 AM
Comment #13Kets its a 25 man squad smh
Aces-of-Eights
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:28 AM
Comment #14What u gonna do with all existing players
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:30 AM
Comment #15So it looks like Nice have agreed a fee for Lemina, we can start talking about bullets dodged and bad attitudes now.
WLtoon
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:36 AM
Comment #16Cleveleysbob,
You are right, we should be buzzing but we ain`t, i wonder why.
All the players we are linked with is just rumour and click bait, absolutely no further forward getting new owners, no ambition whatsoever, a club going backwards constantly, losing out to players to smaller but more ambitious clubs regularly.
You wonder why fans are posting about other stuff, yep, i found a decent spot to go kayaking, and for what it`s worth it`s far more enjoyable than reading the BS involving the club atm.
Mister Tuff
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:36 AM
Comment #17Ladyburn Lake is good for canoeing/water sports – need to buy a permit though £6 for an adult day pass. Get them at the centre/cafe.
Adamn_92
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:36 AM
Comment #18Toon67, sadly it looks like the loan is for a property development company he owns in London. So probably to cover covid losses for that rather than anything Newcastle based.
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:37 AM
Comment #19Lesh, you could be right, but it’s a bit early, even for me. Had my double shot cappuccino and waiting for caffeine to kick in. Won’t be long 😉
Aces-of-Eights
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:39 AM
Comment #20Dubs, Darlow.
Murphy, Manquillo.
Schar, Krafth.
Lascelles, Fernandez.
Dummett, Clarke.
Ritchie, Lewis.
M.Longstaff, Hendrick.
Shelvey, Hayden.
Almiron, S.longstaff.
ASM, Joelinton.
Wilson, Gayle.
Gillespie, Muto,
So we have space for 1 player so lets say thats Willock.
Signing anyone else we need to make room so if they loan out m. Longstaff we can get another mid i.e gallagher? Pereira?
Sell muto and get another striker better than Gayle to back up Wilson i.e Moise Kean?
Sell Lewis and get another lwb?
Sell Hendrick get ben arfa as back up to asm?
Thats all I’d look at this window. Not too much tinkering and see where we are January.
Dont be like Kets on football mgr
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:40 AM
Comment #21WL, you and me both, I’m worst offender on here for going off topic, but just not enthused by any of it atm, so any chat is better than none. Really could do with just 1 x minuscule bit of good news, even Jones’ return from holiday would be good. 😉
Rotonda heights
Jul 23, 2021 at 11:47 AM
Comment #22Difficult choice for clark.
Klopp v bruce
Ambitious winners v perennial also rans and no hopers.
Barkley is allegedly fond of the sauce. Give it a miss and just throw everything at willock.
DrGloom
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:05 PM
Comment #23Keep
Dubs, Darlow.
Murphy, .
Schar, .
, Fernandez.
Dummett, .
Ritchie, .
, .
Shelvey, Hayden.
Almiron, .
ASM, .
Wilson, Gayle.
Loan
Lewis
M.Longstaff
Sell
Manquillo
Krafth
Lascelles
Clarke
Joelinton
Hendrick
S.longstaff
Don’t think we can do much worse without those players and just playing the young uns as we cleay won’t replace them all
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:05 PM
Comment #24Bloody typical, while I’ve been in bed all week a heat wave has raged in the Irish Sea. Back on days, on a satellite rig with just the six of us and finished for the day, we’re surrounded by mist 😕
DrGloom
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:06 PM
Comment #25Obviously Muto should be sold or given away
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:08 PM
Comment #26Muto is probably being paid too much to be given away.
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:11 PM
Comment #27I’ve had no new uptakes on the H2H league, we’ve got just over three weeks to try and fill it up:
For all those still interested in joining the two blog H2H leagues please find this thread:
https://www.nufcblog.com/2021/07/11/379635/comment-page-4/#comments
And post “I’m in”
Once it’s ran its course Neil will e mail the two relevant codes.
Code for Ed Harrison league is.
Code: iaemqa
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:16 PM
Comment #28There’s actually 33 in now so seven to go, I’m sure John Reese, the egg man and coth are interested as well. I think we might just do this.
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:29 PM
Comment #29We’ll be buzzing when Choudry comes here in a strop on 31st of Aug because Rodgers has signed loads better.
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:32 PM
Comment #30Has everyone gone on the drink.
Adamn_92
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:33 PM
Comment #31Few murmurings of Ashley being furious about the arbitration delay. Just rumours of course, but you’d have to hope there’s no truth behind them or it points to Premier League delay tactics and not a plan by our side.
Adamn_92
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:35 PM
Comment #32Jail
Think there’s so little to talk about at the moment plus it looks like yesterday got a little heated. Maybe quite a few are taking a step back from the blog today.
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:37 PM
Comment #33Question, not football related.
Anyone else had a review of their electricity prices lately? Mine have just jumped +25% compared to last 2-3 years.
My gaff’s 100% electric, supposedly 100% renewable energy sources. WTF? This is massive for me. I’ve done the usual comparison stuff and it appears to be in line with most others.
Where’s that come from, I’ve not seen anything in press about massive electricity price hikes, or have they just buried it under the Covid stuff? Not a happy bunny.
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:40 PM
Comment #34Bob,
Mine has gone up a shed load, I’m getting on the blower when I get back.
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:42 PM
Comment #35Adamn_92,
Was it yesterday that it got heated?
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:44 PM
Comment #36Jail, good luck with that. My lot are claiming massive rises in wholesale price, they even claim that they’ve reduced their margins to soften blow. Bloody hell, soften when the increase is 25%, I’ll need tranquillising. 😉
Jail for Ashley
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:45 PM
Comment #37Also there really is absolutely nothing to say. People saying Ajer is a bullet dodged, we wouldn’t pay the £10M for VVD because we wanted to be the ones that initially bought him for £4M. It’s all very well dodging these bullets but we need to bring players in. It really does affect player morale when no signings are made.
Mund
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:46 PM
Comment #38Who was it that got heated?
cleveleysbob
Jul 23, 2021 at 12:49 PM
Comment #39I Know there are infrastructure and maintenance costs, but there are no raw material costs, so how can 100% renewable energy jump 25%?
Has the cost of wind or sunshine risen, without us being informed?
I’m bloody steaming, but at a loss about what to do. I could write to the local MP, but that’s a waste of time.
chancel be a fine thing
Jul 23, 2021 at 1:02 PM
Comment #40Find a water main near your house, drill a big hole, attach a water turbine generator, run leads to your house and Bob’s your uncle. Free electricity for a couple of years until the council get around to fixing the problem.