Newcastle (#NUFC) transfer window assessment and thoughts. In: Matias Fernandez-Pardo, £51m, 6/10 Nico González, £48m + £4m, 9/10 Bazoumana Touré, £42m, 3/10 Aladji Bamba, £30m + £5.5m, 6/10 Amar Dedic, £29.5m, 7/10 Lukas Hornicek, £25.7m, 9/10 Sean Steur, £20m + £3m, 10/10 Ewen Jaouen, £18.5m + £5.5m, 6/10 Out: Sandro Tonali, £92m + £8m, 10/10 Bruno Guimarães, £75m, 7/10 Anthony Gordon, £69.3m, 7/10 Nick Woltemade, £3.5m (loan), 5/10 Kieran Trippier, £0 Emil Krafth, £0 Matt Targett, £0 John Ruddy, £0 Total spend: £264.7m + £18m (£282.7m) Total income: £239.8m + £8m (£247.8m) Net: £34.9m Matias Fernandez-Pardo Incredibly difficult transfer to judge given the player has played in multiple positions for Lille and because we don’t know where/how he fits in for Newcastle, you would suspect in the CAM/SS position, which does negatively impact my assessment of the transfer (not player). Newcastle had a clear, much needed strategy this window, to target the “best” 18-24 year old players on the market within a £20m - £40m price range (I still think that’s too expensive) and to go and break that strategy, to smash through that set price range to sign a LW turned CF, when the club already have the likes of Barnes, Touré, Wissa and Osula on the books and are in dire need of a specialised CAM and RW is to me, bizarre. It’s quite obvious that this was the intended Anthony Gordon replacement, meaning the plan, certainly at the start of the window, would’ve been to play him at that LW position. In addition to that, Fernandez-Pardo’s main attribute is his running ability, his ability to carry the ball, now that may suit Jaissle’s system but is that going to be as effective in the CAM position (if he plays there)? Don’t Newcastle already have that in abundance? Who is going to be that player who can/will create with their passing? Going back to the price, it’s incredibly expensive, you can buy best in class players for <£50m routinely, so for this to be considered good value, he has to come in and be best in class… I think ~£35m is a more appropriate valuation for a player of his ability, meaning the club have overpaid ~£15m which is significant. Messy, messy transfer, significantly overpriced, breached our transfer strategy/price range, intended to play as a (and is a) LW, if he does play at LW that makes the Bazoumana Touré transfer worse than it already is and if played elsewhere, we’re effectively playing him out of his natural position and ripping up our initial plan for the squad. Nico González Exactly what Newcastle have needed for a number of years, the profile of player that should have been signed instead of Sandro Tonali in the summer of 2023, a specialised, (near) elite level DM, a player that I thought would be out of Newcastle’s reach this summer, although slightly overpriced (£5m - £10m), this is a player that’s worth stepping away from your strategy to sign. Bazoumana Touré A player who is solely reliant on their pace and crossing ability, extremely one dimensional and at £42m you should be looking to buy a complete, best in class type player, for example, Maghnes Akliouche, Christos Tzolis, Lee Kang-In and Mika Godts, all who have moved this summer for similar (or less) money. Although it’s early in the season, it speaks volumes that Harvey Barnes has been the preferred option at LW, who is also extremely limited. Aladji Bamba Again, incredibly difficult to judge given the limited amount of senior football he has played, how extraordinary his data is/was (which doesn’t lie), how well he played at Monaco compared to just how poor he performed during pre-season and that he’s yet to feature in a competitive game (14 minute cameo aside) for Newcastle. Jury’s out, but last season he was elite at all aspects of the game when he played. Amar Dedic Well-rounded, versatile, very good at all aspects of the game, by all means an improvement on Tino Livramento (who should have been sold this summer), I believe the club overpaid “slightly” on this transfer (£5m - £7.5m). Lukas Hornicek What difference he has made, his presence/performances further highlight just how much Nick Pope and company hindered the overall performance of the team last season. Sean Steur Exceptional. His passing ability is near unmatched in the squad, it’s a little disappointing that Jaissle operates with a double pivot meaning his minutes are going to be reduced (probably a good thing). Although it’s difficult compare because it’s a two vs three man midfield system, I think Steur/Miley and González is a much more functional midfield than Guimarães, Tonali and Joelinton. These are the kind of signings, at this price point, that we should be making as opposed to the Touré signing. Ewen Jaouen Similar to the Fernandez-Pardo signing, the assessment has been impacted by the arrival of Lukas Hornicek, rather than the quality of the player. Again, it seems incredibly bizarre to spend £18.5m + £5.5m on a second choice, 20 year old goalkeeper before signing a first choice, 24 year old goalkeeper, at £25.7m, all in the same window when the squad as a whole is going through a serious transition phase. The squad would have benefited from those funds being used elsewhere (CAM or RW). Sales Newcastle have been fantastic sellers this window, although it was difficult losing Bruno Guimarães, at (nearly) 29 years old it’s a sale that a well run club should be making, it just happened to fall as the club was going through this transition phase, £75m is a really good fee (Guimarães is only worth ~£45m) but I do feel the club could have squeezed more out of Arsenal/any buying club, similarly with the Anthony Gordon transfer (worth ~£37.5m), good price but feel the club could have pushed for a bigger fee. I can’t quite fathom how the club has managed to sell Sandro Tonali (worth ~£40m, maybe less) at £92m + £8m, if sold I was expecting £80m to be the very top end fee the club would receive, hats off. Summary This transfer window really does rely on where Matias Fernandez-Pardo plays and how well he does, despite that, I still think it’s criminal that the club, knowing that Jaissle wants to play with CAM and knowing the deficiencies the squad has at RW, has failed to address these areas. All three positions behind the striker are severely lacking in quality, not one of them is capable of passing the ball and we keep failing to address it. Although I like the players and profiles Newcastle have targeted this summer (barring Touré) and even though we have signed eight players, I still feel the squad is short in quality, specifically in the attacking midfield areas. To spend a total of £264.7m + £18m and still have to rely on Anthony Elanga and Jacob Murphy as our RWs is abysmal. Plenty to be excited about but the overall score for this window is: 6/10