Newcastle United's wild 103m January transfer window predicted with major Wilson, Trippier and Schar calls

The rumblings from Newcastle United’s summer transfer window have continued after the Magpies endured what many believed to be an underwhelming recruitment period.

Goalkeeping duo Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy, Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly and Sheffield United forward William Osula were all secured and a season-long loan deal for Chelsea youngster Lewis Hall was converted into a permanent £28m move to Tyneside. However, there is a feeling Eddie Howe was left short-handed after the Magpies failed to complete moves for a centre-back, winger and another striker. Despite their positive start to the season, which has seen Howe’s men gain seven points from a possible nine, the United boss was still asked several questions on the situation at St. James Park’ during his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He said: “I’m very, very proud of every single player we signed during that period. It’s very easy to look back at any transfer window and make a judgement on the players you signed three years down the line. Our objective at the time was to stay in the Premier League and, when you look back, that work was good. I’m very, very proud of the body of work we did and the players we have now from the legacy of those transfer windows. We love them to bits. I think everyone can hold their heads up very high. I will take ownership of that because, ultimately, I was always the final decision-maker on those signings… I’d certainly like to find a few more players like them. Recruitment is never as easy as everyone thinks.”

With thoughts now focused on adding to their squad in the new year, we fired up Football Manager 2024 to see how the world’s most popular managerial simulation predicts the January transfer window will play out for Howe and Newcastle.

INS

After their prolonged and fruitless attempts to land Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi during the summer, it always seemed likely strengthening at the back would be top of the list of priorities for Newcastle. There was no return for Guehi as the Magpies opted to move for Sporting CP centre-back Ousmane Diomande as the Ivory Coast international made a £40m move to Tyneside. There were two further additions as two departures (more of those in a moment) forced further activity in the transfer market.

Firstly, a new striker arrived in the former of Lille’s Jonathan David, who made a £30m switch to St. James’ Park as the Ligue 1 club opted to sell the Canada international after failing to agree a new deal. The final move, which came on the final day of the window, came with the loan signing of PSG’s South Korea international Kang-In Lee - but there was no permanent clause written into that agreement.

OUTS

There were a number of big calls made during the January transfer window when it came to reducing the number of players at Howe’s disposal. Firstly, after struggling to find a regular place in the Magpies starting eleven, young midfielder Lewis Miley was allowed to join Championship club Norwich City on loan for the remainder of the season and he was joined in the second tier by defender Alex Murphy, who joined Stoke City on a half-season loan. There were permanent departures and they were perhaps not surprising as a number of players entered the final six months of their current deals at St. James’ Park.

Callum Wilson was the first to go as he joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad in an £8m deal and he was joined in the Gulf State by goalkeeper Martin Dubravka as he joined Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq for a £3m fee. Perhaps the most surprising departure was Dan Burn as he re-joined Fulham in a £4m move nine years after leaving Craven Cottage. The biggest outgoing was Miguel Almiron as his time as a Magpies came to an end when Newcastle accepted a £18m offer from La Liga club Sevilla. However, staying at St. James Park’ are Emil Krafth, Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles as the defensive trio all penned one-year deals and Kieran Trippier remained at the club when the January window came to an end.