Eddie Howe confirmed during his press conference this morning that Newcastle will not be adding another player this week. The hope was to add two players – a striker and a center-back – to be plugged into the squad for Watford.
The mission was partly accomplished with the signing of Chris Wood from Burnley. The 30-year-old adds plenty of experience and provides something different from Callum Wilson. Wood will fill the void while Wilson recovers from his calf injury.
The failure to add a defender this week was not from a want of trying. Newcastle have been working doggedly on multiple targets since the window opened. Thus far, the attempts for Sven Botman, Diego Carlos, and Benoit Badiashile have gone unrealized.
The pursuit of Botman has been the most frustrating. The 22-year-old was identified early as the preferred target to solidify Newcastle’s rickety backline. His club Lille have remained steadfast in their determination not to sell the young Dutchman.
Newcastle reportedly have moved on from Botman though a report in The Telegraph indicates there is still a remote chance he ends up on Tyneside before the window closes. Newcastle would have to offer £45.9m for negotiations to open back up.
The Magpies have not come close to that amount so it appears Botman will remain with Lille until the summer. If Newcastle survive this season, they will face plenty of competition for him from AC Milan and a couple of unnamed Premier League clubs.
Lille’s preference is to keep the defender for the rest of this campaign. Then a bidding war could ensue and theoretically, his price could remain very close to the £45.9m Lille have set for this window.
Newcastle’s pursuit for their other top target, Diego Carlos, is faring only marginally better. Sevilla have rejected Newcastle’s two offers, both believed to be below £30m. Though, Newcastle have not cooled on their desire of signing the 28-year-old just yet.
The Chronicle is reporting that the player’s representatives are encouraging Newcastle to continue their push for Carlos as they have been very impressed with their determination. However, Sevilla do not want to lose their star defender while engaged in a title race.
The report reveals that Carlos has an £80m release clause and that Sevilla would demand around £50m to consider letting him leave now. So for the moment, Newcastle are either going to have to pursue other targets or pay club-record fees for Carlos or Botman.
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43 comments so far
Wor B
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:32 PM
Comment #1Shirley not!
Wor B
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:34 PM
Comment #2Everyone’s watching loose women!
Wor B
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:35 PM
Comment #3May as well join them.
Laters.
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:40 PM
Comment #4Well that puts that to bed
Newcastle hope to secure Sean Longstaff on a new deal. Eddie Howe today said the midfielder, out of contract in the summer, has a ‘long-term future’ at the the club. #NUFC
dazzler
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:43 PM
Comment #5Mund,
If Howe can keep squeezing improvements out of him, I’d be happy to keep him. He can and should be a quality player, but the injury a few years ago did a number on his development. Hopefully, Howe can sort that out.
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:43 PM
Comment #6Highest spend so far and some are still not happy.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJEDO1SWUAkH-nV?format=jpg&name=large
Harley
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:44 PM
Comment #7Mund
If that’s the case then he needs to sharpen up. He’s far too slow (mind and physical) so needs to work on that. I’ve never seen a player caught on the ball as much. He needs to work on passing it quicker.
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:45 PM
Comment #8dazzler
I’ve always been a fan of Lobby’s and have stuck by him the whole time as I truly believe there is a player in there. Hopefully and like you say, if Howe can keep pulling him in the right direction it could pay dividends.
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:46 PM
Comment #9Harley
I agree he has to make improvements and I hope a new settled environment will pull that out of him.
Munster Mag
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:47 PM
Comment #10Hope so Mund, not holding my breath, but he has a better chance than his brother. He has technical ability and a good shot, but seems to lack both speed of thought and speed of legs. We’ll see.
Munster Mag
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:48 PM
Comment #11The Botman thing is getting annoying now
Are Botman Carlos and Badishile all left footed …if so are we just going to buy one surely, either way. And upgrade the right hand side of central defence in summer?
DubaiMicky
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:49 PM
Comment #12TalkSport is the SundaySport of the airwaves.
Raj of Hailsley
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:50 PM
Comment #13Mund,
I’d sack that guy who gives you your info.
Adamn_92
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:50 PM
Comment #14Longstaff will probably get the nod tomorrow, i’d imagine we’ll see a similar team to the one that played Manure. Longstaff is capable, he just needs to show consistency and get that sharpness back to his game. Looks too casual and results in misplaces passes and getting caught on the ball. Get that sharpness and alertness back and he’ll be a good squad player to have. I doubt he’ll be a regular started in our midfield this time next season.
Macas
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:50 PM
Comment #15Should have just get Longstaff’s contract wind down or cash in on him. Now we will be stuck with a player on high wages who isn’t going to get much game time taking up a squad place.
Macas
Jan 14, 2022 at 12:52 PM
Comment #16Munster
I think Carlos is right footed, the other two left footed
Tyran21
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:04 PM
Comment #17I think Sean Longstaff have the best tackles per min in Newcastle squad this season.
Tyran21
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:05 PM
Comment #18Most tackles per min I meant…
Scythe
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:11 PM
Comment #19Mund
You said you’d blocked Talksport (good move by the way) because ‘All they do is give complete and utter idiots a platform to speak as it causes drama with the utter drivel they spout and drama sells more.’
I think you might need to block the whole of Twitter too 🙂
pittsburgh_toon
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:15 PM
Comment #20Watching Longstaff, one of my biggest complaints is that he is never moving to receive the ball, he’s stationary and never makes himself a target. It’s like he afraid to have the ball at his feet. Not a great trait for a box to box midfielder.
Pat Mania
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:16 PM
Comment #21Tyran21
i wonder how does that rank at league level. I’d imagine it’s way down. Our middle has been offering little in defence or attack. We really need a first choice in their. Shelvey, Joelinton and Longstaff might be decent supporting someone better. But as a three they are miles off the required quality.
ToonDarnSarf
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:19 PM
Comment #22Makes sense to renew Longstaff’s contract. He’s either a squad player or a saleable asset. Just letting his contract expire doesn’t seem to make much sense unless he really doesn’t want to compete for a place in the team.
pittsburgh_toon
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:19 PM
Comment #23Watched a replay or Sevilla vs Getcafe last night. One big thing I noticed about Carlos that I haven’t seen mentioned much is his passing ability. He looked like Jonjo at times picking out wingers way up the pitch and moved the ball quickly and decisively. I just don’t see us getting him but it would be huge.
theartfuldodger
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:19 PM
Comment #24I think Dummett is ready to start.
What I am nervous about is false positives in covid testing.
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:21 PM
Comment #25Have you sacked the gardener…?
Adamn_92
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:22 PM
Comment #26https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/premier-league/12515761/diego-carlos-is-thought-to-be-interested-in-newcastle-move-beno238t-badiashile-also-keen-on-move
Could be promising that we’ve seen SkySports say a few times now that Carlos is keen on the move.
Raj of Hailsley
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:26 PM
Comment #27We were told Longstaff was going to Everton. When will people realise that all this itk stuff is just educated guess work that every once in a while comes off. We were also told that three CB’s were leaving this January before even the players themselves knew about it. Surely someone that well connected to be privy to such information would have known about the Chris Wood deal. Nada, not a sausage because there was nothing to guess at. There isn’t a source or a leak or anybody at the club divulging information, it’s a bunch of blokes on twitter feeding each other duff information.
Dr. Ed Harrison
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:27 PM
Comment #28Pay the £45M for Botman now – he’s worth it and would help save us this season. He could be more expensive this summer.
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:29 PM
Comment #29No we were told Everton wanted him and they did bud for him a measly 1M.
Obviously way off what is acceptable
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:29 PM
Comment #30Dr Ed
Totally agree just get it done.
Still more to play out on Botman I think
barkel
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:36 PM
Comment #31it’s very easy to spend someone else money! maybe the club don’t have funds in place at the moment to just splash out an extra 10-15mil, it’s all a lot of speculation
Pat Mania
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:36 PM
Comment #32Dr. Ed
Yes! Get him on the books.
Pat Mania
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:38 PM
Comment #33barkel
They have the funds. They have 190million available under FFP. But they want to keep as much as possible for the summer. Along with survival this will help us attract truly world class players.
DrGloom
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:48 PM
Comment #34Mund – Trippier 12 million and Woods 20 million adds up to 32 million – not sure where those numbers of 42 million are coming from
DrGloom
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:49 PM
Comment #3541 million even, my numbers are as bad as theirs 😀
ToonDarnSarf
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:49 PM
Comment #36Jail – I agree. It’s frustrating waffle! Especially from the people who like to portray that they have some kind of inside scoop and that they are posting accurate information when really any one of us on this blog could write an article with as much relevance and accuracy.
I know some disagree and like to discuss totally made up links and stories but it’s not for me.
Tyran21
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:51 PM
Comment #37Pat Mania
A new ball-winning DM is always no.1 priority on my wishlist this transfer window.
Mund
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:52 PM
Comment #38Some are like stuck records in here.
Rinse and repeat.
Goofy
Jan 14, 2022 at 1:53 PM
Comment #39We are gonna have to break the club record for a CB, if so, so be it. Joelinton will be happy if they do, it’ll take that burden off his shoulders, he was thrown into the deep end and doubt he liked the spotlight.
A got wound up a few days ago with all of the media having digs, realise now it’s part of the package. Read a few Citeh fans comments and they are still hated now. Time for broad shoulders, small price to pay for success
ArtyH
Jan 14, 2022 at 2:02 PM
Comment #40If we sold our three c/b’s would that offset the FFP dynamic? Ie get maybe £10m for them and offer that for Botman and/or Carlos to make up the difference? LOL’s