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I know. This was not the transfer window you were hoping for. We were all hoping that if the takeover did not go through, we’d at least be sitting on around 60m pounds or more to get some new players in the door. Instead, COVID-19 decided to ravage the Premier League among other sports leagues, and transfer budgets for multiple clubs were slashed.
Newcastle United was always going to be in the camp that would not be able to weather that storm well.
Instead, Newcastle United operated on a 30m pound budget, looked at freebies, and brought in a mix of players young and older (I don’t see 28 as that old). And while this transfer season wasn’t the most exciting, I think it is some of the best business that Newcastle United has done in a long time by virtue of the circumstances surrounding it.
If we had the full 60m of course I would not be satisfied with players brought in and would have preferred more. I’m still somewhat salty over missing out on James Rodriguez who Everton now has. But Newcastle United has done a very good job of evaluating their financial position and moving on players that could improve the team and not hurt their long-term transfer plans.
But now that I’m done gushing over the transfer business, I want to talk about how I think this team is actually very exciting. It’ll be nice to see Jamal Lewis in a black and white shirt protecting the club’s left flank. It will enable us to move Paul Dummett more permanently to a central role which I think he’s been pretty competent at.
Signing Ryan Fraser is a very exciting move for me because he is such a talented passer. Newcastle United has lacked that until they signed Allan Saint-Maximin last season. With both ASM, Fraser, and Miggy as the creating trio for what should be Callum Wilson and Joelinton upfront, I am gushing over the possibilities.
I don’t think Jeff Hendrick will be a staunch starter for the club, but he does add some depth which will be nice when we need a consistent option to replace ASM, Miggy, or Shelvey.
I’m really looking forward to this season because I think we’re going to look really good. I can’t stress that enough. I’m going to be extremely disappointed if I turn out to be wrong and we’re hot garbage and get relegated. But I’m confident that’s not going to be even close to what happens. Just wait, this squad will show its true talent this season.