Newcastle transfer plans revealed: Magpies plotting Chelsea raid

Saucy, saucy report published just a few hours ago by Luke Edwards writing for The Telegraph on Monday.

According to Edwards, Newcastle are “looking at the possibility of signing Chelsea players Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Hakim Ziyech.”

Newcastle’s manager Eddie Howe was keen to add reinforcements to the midfield of his team through January earlier this month, and after the late developments surrounding injuries to some of his players (namely Jonjo Shelvey and Bruno), the gaffer’s wishes have only grown bigger.

That, obviously, is bringing transfer whispers from all around the globe, let alone knowing that the Magpies are now backed by a deep-pocket Saudi Arabia-based board.

That said, FFP will still limit Newcastle’s spending this window, and going over the budgeted plans would mean lower spending in next summer’s transfer window, which should be a better time to target and land all players wanted by the coach and the board.

Even then, this winter might have opened an extraordinary window of opportunity for Newcastle to pounce on Chelsea’s ever-growing roster of players.

According to Edwards, the Blues will be forced to “cut two non-homegrown players from their Champions League squad ahead of their Round of 16 tie against Borussia Dortmund next month,“ now that they have landed three players in via transfers in Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix and Benoit Badiashile.

That means that they will either sell some players or leave them sitting on the reserve team without a chance of playing competitive minutes, something that folks signed to a giant club with UCL aspirations aren’t probably going to take nicely, rather favoring a move out of Chelsea.

Eddie Howe’s main priority in this window, according to Edwards’ sources, is “another central midfielder” while the coach is also “looking at wingers and right-backs.” All of that makes sense considering the current out-form Allan Saint-Maximin, the potential departure of Ryan Fraser, and the lack of a first-team-level right-back replacement in the event of an injury happening to Kieran Trippier—along with Matt Target, a left-back, being also out nursing his own health woes.

Per Edwards, “Newcastle have looked into signing Gallagher,” while the Magpies have also “expressed an interest” in Man Utd’s midfielder Scott McTominay. According to The Telegraph, McTominay is “understood to be open to moving to St James’ Park,” through January.

Graham Potter doesn’t want to lose Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek, though he is seemingly more open to selling Ziyech if an offer for the Morocco international arrives, writes Edwards. Potter himself, though, has acknowledged the bizarre situation Chelsea will find themselves in when all injured players return to apt fitness levels, as he’ll have a 30-man-plus squad to manage while having dealt with much shorter groups at Brighton.

The ongoing spending spree in West London—expect to keep going with Chelsea wanting to sign one or two more players before the window closes—has brought an unexpected opportunity for Howe and Newcastle to extract as much value as they can from the struggling Blues.

It’s time to let new Blue fake wannabe-good-owners know how a club is properly run.