How Newcastle United's stunning £308m predicted summer transfer window could have gone

It has been a difficult summer transfer window for Newcastle United and one that has brought frustration and impatience in abundance.

The prolonged attempts to land Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi has dominated the headlines but the forced sales of academy graduate Elliot Anderson and highly-rated winger Yankuba Minteh brought bitter disappointment within the St. James’ Park hierarchy. Both players were viewed as key parts of the club’s future but the Magpies battle with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations ensured they were allowed to depart. There have been new additions but it would be safe to say Newcastle will not look back upon the summer transfer window with great pride as it stands.

But how could the summer transfer window have played out for Newcastle? We fired up Football Manager 2024, rewound the summer back to the start of the window and allowed the world’s most popular managerial simulation to replay the last three months in the transfer window.

Ins

The first two deals to be completed when the summer transfer window opened for business matched what came to pass in the real world. A £28m permanent deal for Chelsea youngster Lewis Hall was finalised after he spent a season-long loan at St. James’ Park and he was followed through the door by Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly after his Cherries contract came to an end. A first new face arrived in the form of AC Milan after he was signed on a season-long loan deal without any agreement over a permanent move.

One of the stories of the current transfer window has been Newcastle’s pursuit of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi - and there was no mistake in the virtual world as the England star made a £56m switch to Tyneside before the Premier League season has kicked off. He was followed by another alleged Magpies target as Chelsea youngster Trevoh Chalobah was signed in a £23m deal.

A new goalkeeper arrived after the Magpies paid £29m for Real Madrid stopper and forward competition was secured with the £15m addition of RB Salzburg’s Karim Konate. There was no late lush for the Magpies but they did complete one deal on the penultimate day of the window after they landed Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis in a £38m move.

All signings: Lewis Hall (£28m from Chelsea), Lloyd Kelly (free from Bournemouth) Luke Jovic (loan from AC Milan), Marc Guehi (£56m from Crystal Palace), Trevoh Chalobah (£23m from Chelsea), Karim Konate (£15m from RB Salzburg), Andriy Lunin (£29m from Real Madrid), Florentino Luis (£38m from Benfica) Total spend: £189m.

OUTS

There was a need to trim the squad for Howe but perhaps it would be best to point out one player that was retained was winger Yankuba Minteh. Despite interest in loan and permanent deals from clubs in England, Italy, France and Spain, the Gambian international remained at St. James’ Park. The move expensive departures came with Elliot Anderson’s £29m switch to Southampton and Miguel Almiron’s £21m move to Marseille.

Striker Callum Wilson’s Newcastle career came to aa close with a £19m switch to Saudi club Al Ittihad, academy graduate Sean Longstaff joined Lille in a £14m switch and Joe Willock remained in the Premier League with Wolves after they agreed to pay £16m for the former Arsenal man. Left-back duo Matt Targett and Jamal Lewis joined Burnley and Sheffield United for a combined income of £14m and Jacob Murphy headed to Serie A in a £6m deal with Roma.

All departures: Jacob Murphy (£6m to Roma), Matt Targett (£12m to Burnley), Sean Longstaff (£14m to Lille), Miguel Almiron (£21m to Marseille), Jamal Lewis (£2m to Sheffield United), Elliot Anderson (£29m to Southampton), Joe Willock (£16m to Wolves), Wilson (£19m to Al Ittihad) Total income: £119m.

Newcastle United squad

GK: Pope, Lunin, Dubravka, Gillespie DF: Hall, Guehi, Chalobah, Trippier, Botman, Schar, Lascelles, Krafth, Livramento, Kelly MF: Luis, Joelinton, Tonali, Guimaraes, Miley FW: Konate, Jovic, Isak, Gordon, Barnes, Isak, Minteh.