To the disgust of many, if not most Newcastle United fans, the Magpies’ summer has been dominated by talk about outgoing, not incoming, transfers.
We have already seen star winger Anthony Gordon be sold to Barcelona, and it now looks like both Sandro Tonali and Bruno, of all people, are on their way out to bigger sides in Tottenham and Arsenal, respectively.
All of those high-profile players—not to mention Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento—being linked with moves away from St James’ Park are starting
to generate some concern among the fanbase and bring fears to the Geordie faithful.
However, according to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh, Newcastle are internally confident there will not be a “mass exodus” despite the speculation surrounding Bruno, Tonali, Livramento, Hall, and even Harvey Barnes.
“Newcastle are confident this will not be the case,” Waugh wrote.
The club do not want to lose key players, as nobody in this the world of our Lord wants, but Waugh reported that Newcastle have planned for the possibility of losing two or three stars this summer and replacing them. Easy to count them: Gordon, Tonali, Bruno.
Waugh reported that Newcastle view Gordon’s €80million move to Barcelona as part of that plan, with the sale completed early to cover the loss of Champions League revenue and give the club time to find a replacement.
Bruno, however, remains in a different category. Newcastle have insisted that the Brazil international is not for sale and that he has not told the club he wants to leave. “Newcastle and Howe are adamant that Guimaraes is not for sale,” Waugh wrote.
Tonali could still depart if Newcastle relents and accepts the already-huge £80million offer they have on the table from Spurs, but they seem locked into wanting their £100million asking price even though that might end up with the club eating Tonali, risking a devaluation, and having to sell him for a much lower fee next summer.
Livramento’s injury issues have made an exit less likely, but it could still happen, and according to Hope, Newcastle intend to build around Hall rather than sell him, even though there seem to be some issues between the England international and Howe that might cause locker room friction.
