Chris Waugh says there is a player Newcastle have to 'seriously consider' selling in January

Paul Mitchell has a couple of big transfer windows ahead of him now that he's properly in-situ as Newcastle United's sporting director.

Having failed to bring in any meaningful reinforcements during the summer window, in which he joined the club mid-way through, there is an expectation now to see what the former Monaco man can actually do for Newcastle.

Mitchell arrived at Newcastle with a stellar reputation and was one of our top choices for the job after Dan Ashworth left.

Things didn't get off to the best of starts, but given that he joined in the middle of a transfer window amid a boardroom reshuffle, we can understand why things didn't go to plan. Now that things have settled down and he and Eddie Howe are starting to pull together, we expect some big changes to start taking shape.

Getty Images

Paul Mitchell will have to move some players on as well as bringing new ones in

We're all obviously looking towards the transfer window in January and the Summer to see just what type of player Mitchell can attract to the club.

However, there's another side that we often forget about, and that's moving players on. Newcastle have been famously reluctant to sell players as Eddie Howe seems to get overly attached to players.

In a Q&A with the fans, The Athletic's Chris Waugh has identified one player who he feels Mitchell will be seriously considering selling in January.

Newcastle should cash in on Longstaff in January

Sean Longstaff will have just six months left on his Newcastle deal come January and given his academy graduate status, any transfer fee raised for the Geordie midfielder would help massively towards raising the headroom for PSR allowing Newcastle to spend more.

However, Eddie Howe loves Longstaff and it's more likely that the club will agree a new deal with Longy before his current one expires, but we expect this will be one of the things on which Mitchell and Howe will bump heads.

It makes way more sense to try and cash in on Longstaff in January rather than lose him for free in the summer. With all due respect to Longstaff who runs the gamut from garbage man to unsung hero, his lack of consistency is an issue, and if we're looking to challenge the top four then we should be looking for better. Sorry, Sean.