Newcastle’s rescue mission - Five steps to salvage nightmare summer

Last summer’s transfer window was bad. The timely and unsuccessful chase of Marc Guehi ended in failure, with no other first team additions made.

This year was supposed to be different. We’d managed to get back into the Champions League and we ended our long wait for silverware. Newcastle were a team on the up and this transfer window would lead to exciting reinforcements. That hasn’t happened.

Anthony Elanga has ended our wait for a first team right wing signing. There was light at the end of the tunnel. However, the club have also missed out on Matheus Cunha, James Trafford, Bryan Mbuemo, Hugo Ekitike and Dean Huijsen. They were all targets, some more serious than others, but it is a bad look nevertheless.

The noise over Alexander Isak was always humming in the background. It seemed like it wouldn’t lead to anything, at least this summer. That has changed in recent days. He has backed away from his duties as a Newcastle player and an exit to Liverpool looks increasingly likely.

Is there time for the club to have a good transfer window? Probably not. Can they salvage it and finish with a stronger squad? Maybe. Here are five things the club need to do to save their transfer window.

1 – Resolve Alexander Isak’s future

This is the most pressing issue at hand. It is a cloud hanging over our summer and every conversation comes back to the Swedish striker. Isak has played his hand. Although it is later than ideal, he has made it clear that he wants to explore other options. That likely means that he wants to leave the club.

There will be many that think we should hold onto the striker. It sends the wrong message to be bullied into a sale and suggests that the project isn’t all its cracked up to be. That being said, it could be even more damaging to keep an unhappy player. His value could plummet and we may not even benefit from his world class ability if his head isn’t in it.

The noise online is that the club are in active discussions over Yoane Wissa and Benjamin Sesko. That suggests that the club are preparing for an Isak sale. They wouldn’t sign both forwards and keep our current number 14.

If we manage to sign two forwards and agree a deal with Liverpool in the next seven days, it would allow everybody to move on. Other priorities can then be given the necessary attention. The club need to take hold of the narrative and get a resolution.

Allowing this to drift helps nobody. Either, we agree a sale or we get Isak back onside and give him the pay rise he deserves – even if that means he leaves next summer.

2 – Make attacking additions

This closely follows on from point one, but it depends on whether we recruit for one or two positions. Yoane Wissa has been heavily linked in recent days, with some suggesting a move is more likely than not.

Although he is older than our ideal recruits, Wissa has been an excellent Premier League forward in recent years. He knows how to score goals in this division and he will be accepting of a squad role. Last season, he scored 19 goals. That is very impressive and he would be an exciting option for Howe to be able to call upon.

He should be recruited whether Isak leaves or not, as we need a second quality striker option. If the Swede does leave, we will need a higher profile option. Benjamin Sesko is currently being linked and looks to be the main choice should Isak depart.

Sesko has been linked to plenty of top European clubs, but none of them have taken the plunge. It is a similar situation to Isak’s when we signed him. The RB Leipzig striker is raw, but he could develop into a world class striker under Howe.

If we manage to sign Wissa and Sesko, it will become easier to let Isak go.

3 – Sign a centre back

Going into the summer, centre back was one of the biggest priorities to strengthen. We have four centre backs in the squad. Three are over 30 and two are coming back from serious knee injuries. It feels like a huge gamble to go into the 2025/26 campaign with no additions in that area of the pitch.

There have been links to centre backs, but none of them have had much substance to them. There has been no major movement to sign a centre back and that is a concern.

For the last two years, we have needed pace and mobility in our defence. This will help with our high line and reduce the pressure on Nick Pope’s sweeping. It will also help Howe rotate the likes of Fabian Schar and Dan Burn. Neither should be playing three times a week.

If we go into the new season without a new centre back, it feels like a matter of when not if that comes back to bite us.

4 – Replace Sean Longstaff

The sale of Sean Longstaff made perfect sense for the club. He was no longer playing regularly and he had a year left on his deal. It was a good deal for the club and suggested that the club were ready to sign new players.

It would make no sense to let Longstaff go without a midfielder being signed. We predominantly play a 4-3-3 and that means we need at least six in the squad. Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton are the starting trio.

Lewis Miley and Joe Willock are both good squad options, but it would be brave to go into the season without another addition in that area of the pitch. Joelinton and Willock are both injury prone, while Miley is still developing.

There will be a lot of games in the coming season and we need another body to share the load.

5 – Implement a professional structure

There will be time to dish out the blame once the window closes. Nobody at the club have covered themselves in glory and there needs to be a thorough review about the processes being used. This summer, we have appeared amateurish and that won’t help us to take the next step.

Firstly, we need to ensure we have the right people in the right positions. Eddie Howe can’t be expected to do the work of the head coach and the sporting director. He may want that responsibility, but it doesn’t work in the modern game.

The club need to appoint a sporting director to lead the club. Ross Wilson has been heavily rumoured and that would represent a good appointment. We aren’t going to analyse his suitability here, but it is obvious that we need someone in that post. Paul Mitchell and Dan Ashworth had impressive reputations, but neither stayed to see the job through. The next appointment needs to stick.

In addition to that, we need a CEO to replace Darren Eales. Hopefully there will be movement on that front soon. These two key appointments can then sit down and overview the processes of the club. If further appointments are required, they should be made.

Once all this is in place, the club can explore upgrades of the facilities, such as the stadium and training ground.

Would that save the summer?

Personally, too many mistakes have been made for this summer to ever be viewed in a positive light. It should serve as a wake-up call to the owners. If there is truly ambition to be competing for major honours, we need to act like an elite club. We may have aspects of an elite team, but the structure off the pitch isn’t right.

We have missed out on too many top targets and could potentially be losing our talisman in Isak. It will be difficult to put that in a positive light.

That being said, we can still repair some of the damage. If the club manage to execute points 1 through to 5, we will end the summer with some momentum and provide Howe with a better squad to attack a busy season.

It would also make a statement to the squad and show that the club are still committed to challenging at the very top. One of the first tasks for the new executive structure will be to review the contracts of the first team and to financially reward those players that deserve it.

We can’t allow another Alexander Isak situation to occur.

The clouds are over the club at the moment, but football moves quickly. It is up to the club to show to the staff and supporters that they are still ready to push on.