Newcastle United’s summer rebuild has brought plenty of fresh faces and young, promising players to St. James’ Park.
Even then, one former Newcastle captain believes something important is still missing as Matthias Jaissle gears up for his first season in charge following Eddie Howe’s departure.
Newcastle has already added Lukas Hornicek, Ewen Jaouen, Bazoumana Toure, Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba, while Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, and Bruno have departed from Tyneside.
All things considered, former
Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan believes the Magpies need to shift their attention toward experienced Premier League players. Speaking to talkSPORT, Nolan questioned the club’s current recruitment plans.
“The biggest thing for me is that a lot of these lads who are coming in are not Premier League proven and I think that’s always a problem,” Nolan said. “When you have too many, sometimes it can come back and bite you.”
Nolan believes Newcastle should balance its youthful additions with players capable of helping them adapt immediately to English football before the transer window is over.
“So I feel like in the next couple of weeks we will hopefully see that they’re going to get some players in who are going to help them young lads to be able to settle into which is the best league in the world,” Nolan said. “You can only do that when you’ve got the experience of doing it, being in it week-in, week-out.”
The former Magpies midfielder also pointed to the unique demands of the Premier League compared to other European competitions as the main reason for why the current transfer market isn’t good for Newcastle.
“I’ve spoken about it on the show before, when these lads come over from the likes of Holland, Germany, Spain and France, they find it really difficult because of the intensity and the mentality,” Nolan said. “What’s needed to go and keep going again and that’s one thing which they won’t be used to at all.”
Newcastle could still strengthen further before the transfer window closes, having spent around £161 million while bagging north of £250 million this summer.
Nolan thinks Newcastle still needs more proven Premier League experience, but do you agree with him, or are you happy with the club’s focus on younger talent with long-term potential? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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