This Past Week at Newcastle United

Monday

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Newcastle has confirmed that captain Jamaal Lascelles is close to returning from a knee injury. The 23-year-old has not featured this preseason and his last outing for the club was this past April against Preston. He has undergone an operation to fix the issue and is expected to return next week.

It is reported that Newcastle are looking to make a deal for Striker Danny Ings. Rafa previously looking to get Sheyi Ojo from his former club earlier and has now said to have moved his attention to Ings. Ings has had knee issues for the past two seasons and he is looking to get back to his previous form as it seems unlikely that he will be able to regain his previous place with the club. It seems that Newcastle could pay a price cut fee in order to take the chance to see if Ings can make it back to his current form.

Curtis Good went out on trial this past week at Dutch side PEC Zwolle and it did not go as planned as he returned without an offer. He joined the club in the summer of 2012 but has only made 2 senior club appearances. It seems that an exit this summer is likely.

Tuesday

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Benitez confirmed today that Jamaal Lascelles and Rob Elliot are both expected to be ready for the start of the season. Lascelles has been nursing a knee injury since last April. Rob Elliot missed the friendly against FSV Mainz due to an illness.

Newcastle are keeping tabs on Arsenal striker Lucas Perez but it seems the £13.4M fee for the player could cause an issue. The 28-year-old has apparently caught the eye of Benitez. Deportivo La Coruna has had a £9M bid rejected. Newcastle are eager to add a new striker but cash has been coming up as the issue for not finding the right fit. In an interesting twist, Lucas Perez’s agent said that they have not had any contact with a Premier League Club.

Newcastle seem to be missing out on Greek International Andreas Samaris. Once again, it is money that seems to be getting in the way as the fee is expected to be around £17M. Rafa has had his hands tied often in this window because there doesn’t seem to be enough funds available to boost the squad any further.

Wednesday

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It is reported that Newcastle are interested in Atletico Madrid forward Angel Correa. The Argentina born forward joined the club from San Lorenzo in 2014. Since that time, Correra has found it difficult to get into the first team. Last year he made 31 La Liga appearances however only had 10 starts. Multiple teams have said to be interested in the player.

Grant Hanley appears to be closer to an exit. The Scotland International has received a lot of interest from Birmingham City. Hanley made 13 appearances for the Magpies last season and seems to be the next player out to door,

Ivan Toney is having a medical with Wigan Athletic for a season long loan. Ivan still has a long way to go before making the first team, however, a successful loan spell with Wigan would seem to expedite that.

Match Report

Newcastle – 3

Mitrovic (37’)

Ritchie (43’)

Atsu (68’)

Vfl Wolfsburg – 1

Malli (51’)

Newcastle

Team: Rob Elliot, Javier Manquillo, Florian Lejeune, Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett, Matt Ritchie, Jonjo Shelvey, Isaac Hayden, Christian Atsu, Ayoze Perez, Aleksandre Mitrovic

Subs Used: Diame (46’), Karl Darlow (70’), Jesus Gamez (70’), Jamaal Lascelles (70’), Chancel Mbemba (70’), Jacob Murphy (70’), Mikel Merino (70’), Siem De Jong (70’), Rolando Aarons (70’)

Yellow Card: Mitrovic

Wolfsburg

Team: Grun, Seguin, Guilavogui, Jaeckel, Uduokhai, Gerhadt, Blaszczykowski, Arnold, Malli, Ntep, Osimhen

Subs Used: Vieirinha, Itter, Camacho, Knoche, Dimata

A good victory for the Toon. Goals by Mitrovic and Ritchie gave Newcastle a comfortable 2-0 halftime lead. A 2^nd half goal from inform Christian Atsu sealed the deal. Mitrovic impressed today as he always seemed to demand the ball and requires physical defending to beat him off the ball. New signings Manquillo and Lejeune got the start and looked great. Jacob Murphy came on in the second half and performed well. Jamaal Lascelles also got in on the action in his first appearance since April.

Newcastle’s next match is at home in a friendly against newly promoted Serie A side Hellas Verona.

Thursday

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Rafa Benitez admits that this has been a difficult transfer window so far. He claimed that the team needs to sell players in order to bring in new players. Newcastle has run dry from money in this window, and while Rafa is still scouting, his hands are tied. Rafa had this to say about the window

“We are where we are. For us it has been a difficult transfer window. Hopefully we can improve the team a little bit but we have to move players out and also look to bring players in. But we are trying to find the balance.”

Benitez has been very positive about Mitrovic so far this preseason. Mitrovic has had many ups and downs since he joined Newcastle. This preseason has gone very well so far as he has three goals to his name. Rafa said

“Mitrovic was working hard – that was the main thing”. We told him before that he would play 45 minutes, so he has to give everything.”

Freddie Woodman has said that he will not get carried away from what has been a great summer for him. He became a popular player after his performance in the U20 World Cup. He has appeared multiple times for the first team this summer. Freddie had this to say

“It’s quite crazy really looking back. But I need to keep playing well. The year has been interesting going back from playing for Kilmarnock to the World Cup to playing with the first team now. Games are rolling and performances are there. But that comes from training well. I need to keep doing that and hopefully the performances will follow.”

Friday

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Newcastle are not interested in Everton midfielder Ross Barkley as reported. Ronald Koeman has confirmed that Barkley will be leaving this summer. It was surprising to see Newcastle linked to the player, when people saw betting lines slash from 50/1 -6/1 however it has been reported that Rafa is not interested in the player.

Newcastle has placed a ‘derisory’ bid for Stoke City striker Joselu. Stoke was said to be shocked at how low the first transfer offer was. However, they will wait to see if Newcastle makes an improved bid.

Mitrovic has been linked with moves away all summer after making only 11 starts last season. Mitrovic is still a very popular player, but the player suggested that he may be on the way out. Mitrovic said

“At the moment, Dwight and I are here and we’re trying to do our best every game. We’ll see what happens at the end of the transfer window.”

Saturday

Rafa Benitez has already admitted that Newcastle need a new striker. The recent news is that Newcastle are interested in Stoke City Striker Joselu. The Magpies reportedly made a £12M bid for the player that was surprisingly rejected. Time is running out before the Magpies first match against Spurs and Rafa seems desperate to get a new player in. Is there enough time?

Everton and Crystal Palace are interested in talking to Newcastle youth star Freddie Woodman. The Goalkeeper is under contract until 2020. This isn’t the first time Freddie has been linked away to other clubs and I don’t think Newcastle will let him go on a permanent transfer. There have been talks that he could join Northampton Town or Hearts this season on loan, but no offers have been made.

Sunday

Match Report

Newcastle – 2

Ayoze Perez (4’)

Christian Atsu (12’)

Hellas Verona – 0

Newcastle

Team: Rob Elliot, Javier Manquillo, Florian Lejeune, Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett, Matt Ritchie, Isaac Hayden, Jonjo Shelvey, Christian Atsu, Ayoze Perez, Aleksandre Mitrovic

Subs Used: Karl Darlow (65’), Jesus Gamez (65’), Jamaal Lascelles (65’), Chancel Mbemba (65’), Rolando Aarons (65’), Jacob Murphy (65’), Mikel Merino (65’), Mo Diame (65’), Siem De Jong (72’)

Hellas Verona

Team: Nicolas, Bearzotti, Kumbulla, Souprayen, Fares, Bessa, Buchel, Zuculini, Cerci, Pazzini, Verde

Subs Used: Silvestri, Romulo, Ferrari, Valoti, Zaccagni, Fossati, Luppi

Yellow Card: Valoti

In the last preseason match for Newcastle, the toon came out 2-0 winners. In their black kits, the Magpies came out strong and got two goals from Perez and Atsu inside 12 minutes. The 2-0 score line didn’t show how the match really went as Newcastle could have had a lot more goals on the day. With many impressive performances this preseason, it seems Newcastle is ready to host Tottenham at home next week. Dwight Gayle did not make the team today and after the match Rafa said

“He’s fine. Hopefully, hell carry on training. If everything's fine, he will be available. Its not his hamstring, its more the feeling. Hes not comfortable. We don’t want to take any risks and be sure he is fine.”