NUFC's new starting 11 'revealed' following five January signings - Surely enough to keep us up?
With the January transfer window finally shut after a manic 31 days on Tyneside, it's finally time to shift our attentions back to events on the pitch.
We arrive into February having signed the following:
- Kieran Trippier – £12m (Atletico Madrid)
- Chris Wood – £25m (Burnley)
- Bruno Guimaraes – £40m (Lyon)
- Matt Targett – Loan (Aston Villa)
- Dan Burn – £13m (Brighton)
Two top internationals, three Premier League proven players and five smart pieces of business.
The Athletic have since released a piece on what went on and what it means moving forward, believing the following side - featuring all FIVE new signings - looks set to be Eddie Howe's new starting 11 until Callum Wilson is fit again:
(4-3-2-1): Dubravka - Trippier, Lascelles, Burn, Targett - Guimaraes Shelvey, Joelinton - Fraser, Saint-Maximin - Wood.
Perhaps Schar may be preferred to Lascelles if the skipper's form doesn't improve, but the fact he is club captain and someone Howe has spoken highly of means he's likely to keep his place, moving back to the right-side of a two now we've signed a left-footer in Dan Burn.
Willock may also benefit from Gumaraes' arrival and get back into the side, either at Joelinton or Jonjo Shelvey's expense, but this looks likely to be the side Howe will go with soon enough.
Enough to stay up? I think so. It lacks depth in the odd area - we can't afford ASM to get injured - but we finally have a top quality midfielder, a proven PL striker while Wilson is out and three very solid defenders added into our back four.
The Athletic then revealed the starting 11 we tried to construct, believing it would've looked something like this had Botmam, Carlos, Digne and Lingard arrived:
