Newcastle forced into complete midfield rebuild

I hope you guys have been enjoying the World Cup notebooks. There was no game yesterday, so we’re back to normal operations at least for one day with a transfer rumour roundup. If you’re a recent subscriber to the newsletter, welcome! You’ll be seeing more transfer rumour analysis as the World Cup winds down and the transfer market starts to dominate football conversation again. Today’s lead story is about Newcastle United, who look like they’re about to have an extremely active window.

With their starting midfielders getting older and their salary demands going up, Newcastle are cashing in and getting younger. Sandro Tonali has already been sold to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee that could eventually rise to £100m if all incentives are met, and Bruno Guimares has informed the club that he’d like to join Arsenal.

The club have already announced the signing of 18-year-old Sean Steur from Ajax for £23m. Here, enjoy a sizzle reel.

It’s too early in Steur’s career to know exactly how he’s going to profile long-term, but he’s currently a ball-carrying box-to-box midfielder who has the physical traits to offer quite a bit defensively in transition. I wouldn’t worry too much about his passing value stats at such a young age — this is always a skill that develops later.

While Steur did play over 1000 minutes for Ajax last season and could play some part in Newcastle’s Premier League campaign, I can’t imagine they’re counting on him to replace their departing stars and become first choice this season. They’ll need to sign a couple of more experienced players as well, and they appear to be closing in on one of the stars of the World Cup.

Johan Manzambi has been an incredible weapon for Switzerland, and he’s coming off an excellent season for Freiburg. Mohamed wrote about him in detail in April, and his profile has only risen since then. The Magpies are expected to complete a €60m deal for him shortly after his World Cup concludes, and I think he’ll slot right into an important starting role.

But Newcastle are going to need at least one more starting caliber midfielder if they sell Guimares, which does feel inevitable at this point. Earlier in the window, they were linked to AS Monaco defensive midfielder Lamine Camara, who I think would compliment Manzambi perfectly in the center of the park. He’s not going to be cheap, but he’s 22 years old and proven in European competition, and he’ll probably cost less than they get for Guimares.

If Newcastle can add an athletic young player with this kind of defensively solid profile, I think they’re going to be very well set up for the future.

It doesn’t feel great as a fan when your team’s best players ask to leave, but Newcastle are selling Tonali and Guimares at the absolute top of their market, replacing them effectively, and leaving themselves some leftover cash to target young players for the future as well. They might not be back in contention for Champions League places next season, but Newcastle’s squad appears to be heading in a great direction.

More transfer rumours

• Manchester United are close to signing Andrey Santos from Chelsea, who I’m guessing must really need the money. Santos wasn’t great in his first Chelsea season, but neither was anyone on that team, and he was outstanding for Strasbourg in the prior campaign. £50m feels like a fair price in the current market.

• Barcelona are close to signing Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund, which would completely rule out a return to the Camp Nou for Marcus Rashford. I don’t think we’ll know where he’s going or if he’s sticking around Man United until very late in the window.

• The asking price for Bradley Barcola is reportedly going to be £150m, which is an expensive but sane ask for a player of his production record. I don’t think there’s an attacker available for Arsenal or Liverpool to sign who’s better than this.

• Tottenham Hotspur have already spent a lot of money on Tonali and Jan Paul van Hecke, and it seems like they’re just going to keep going. The latest rumour is that they’re willing to spend £85m on Bournemouth youngster Eli Junior Kroupi, who had an outstanding debut Premier League season. Kroupi did overperform his xG, but his xG per 90 and shot volume were still incredible for a 19-year-old, and I really do think that he’s a future star.

• The closest thing to Mohamed Salah’s skillset that Liverpool are going to find in a young player is probably Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh. The problem, of course, is that the biggest difference between them is shooting. But Minteh’s dribbling and playmaking skills along with his ability to cut in on his left foot have the Reds reportedly ready to bid £80m. There’s a risk that the goals never come, but we’ve been fans of the underlying skills on this newsletter for quite some time.

• Crystal Palace are signing Oscar Mingueza on a free transfer from Celta Vigo, and I’m excited to see if his game translates to the Premier League. He’s not a very athletic or defensively sound fullback, but a truly elite passer.

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