Newcastle United’s latest Premier League game at Crystal Palace raised questions around squad building and investment, with several long-serving players still used in Matthias Jaissle’s XI despite the Magpies having spent more than £1 billion since the PIF takeover and north of £260 million last summer alone.
The Athletic’s Chris Waugh wrote that Newcastle should be frustrated by how the squad has developed, particularly given that veterans Fabian Schar, Jacob Murphy, Joe Willock and Joelinton all
predated the current ownership and played a major role in the win over Palace.
“I would be alarmed if the club were not frustrated by having spent more than £1billion ($1.33bn) gross post-takeover and yet four of the players who started on Sunday were there before the ownership arrived,” Waugh wrote.
Only three of Newcastle’s summer signings started at Palace, although Waugh stressed that judging the latest window already would be premature.
Sporting director Ross Wilson and CEO David Hopkinson deliberately shifted the club’s recruitment toward younger players, meaning Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Bazoumana Toure still require time before conclusions can reasonably be drawn.
Aladji Bamba is a greater immediate concern, with Waugh noting that Matthias Jaissle doesn’t appear to believe the £30 million midfielder is ready to contribute regularly in the Premier League, and a loan might be on the near horizon for the midfielder.
“For Wilson and Hopkinson, the focus has to be on getting transfers correct from this point on, rather than lamenting some of the expensive failures of the past such as Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa,” Waugh wrote.
How confident are you in Newcastle’s current recruitment strategy after the latest summer rebuild and the start to the season? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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