Newcastle dismiss Felix Nmecha links as transfer budget truth emerges

Newcastle United have a lot of shopping to do this summer to get the squad back up to a competitive level.

The Magpies had a poor season in the Premier League last time around, and the season was only salvaged by progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League and another Carabao Cup semi-final.

Newcastle's poor league finish means there will be no European football in the upcoming season, which could be a blessing as the squad is not equipped to deal with the extra games, and right now, that squad is only getting weaker with Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier both having left and Sandro Tonali on the verge.

This summer was supposed to herald a new era for Eddie Howe with a squad rebuild, but The Chronicle is now reporting that Howe will have the smallest budget he's ever had in a summer window at the club before player sales, which really doesn't bode well.

Felix Nmecha is 'too expensive'

Newcastle fans were finally treated to some positive news on Friday when it was revealed that the Magpies were tracking Borussia Dortmund and Germany midfielder Felix Nmecha, but The Chronicle now claims that these rumours were dismissed by the club as he is too expensive.

Nmecha has a £73.5m release clause, and while there is hope that Dortmund would be willing to accept a lower offer, it sounds like the club isn't confident it would be low enough.

Obviously, player sales will help to increase Newcastle's budget, and if Sandro Tonali is sold, that would massively change things.

Is it that bad, really?

The problem on the surface here is, if we sell Tonali for somewhere in the region of £80m-£90m and then spend £70m on one player, we're pretty much back where we were, and given how many players we need this summer, it could be a big issue.

However, the way transfers are amortised, that's not strictly true. Even though we're moving away from PSR and into the Squad Cost Ratio era, amortisation still counts for something.

Even the sale of Anthony Gordon and the removal of his, Kieran Trippier's and every other player who has left's wages from the budget will have a positive effect on the budget.

We're no experts, obviously, but we don't think the situation is as dire as it sounds. We still aren't getting our hopes up on Felix Nmecha, though.