Are Newcastle United writing this season off to focus on next year? - opinion

Are Newcastle United throwing in the towel on the 2023/24 season with a view to coming back strong in 2024/25?

Unless something miraculous happens and Newcastle go on to win every single remaining game, this is likely to be a season to forget for the Magpies.

An endless barrage of injuries, a season-long ban for our new signing and endless rumours of off-field activities by our players have coalesced to absolutely ruin this season that had so much potential.

Newcastle have little left to play for this season

Now, as we head enter the back half of the season Newcastle are out of Europe, out of the Carabao Cup and the hope of grabbing a European spot again slips further out of view.

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Now, with just over a week left of the transfer window, there is a lot of talk about top players leaving the club. Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson, Miguel Almiron, and Jamaal Lascelles all seem to be heading towards the exit door.

That wouldn't be so bad if there were absolutely no mumblings of replacements on the horizon for any of the outgoing players. In fact, thanks to FFP, we'd struggle to find anyone of a suitable quality for a price we could afford.

Are the club playing a risky game or simply being naive?

So, the question is, are Newcastle willing to let these top players leave knowing that it's highly unlikely that we'd fall into any real danger in the Premier League this season? The thinking being we'll sell players while there's interest, being in some money now and let the season play out how it will even if we finish in the lower half of the league as a result, then use that money plus all the other funds that we will have come summer to go big in the off-season?

It's a risky maneuver, especially given how much money you lose with each place dropped in the league, but it might be the smartest play here. This season, apart from the potential of the FA Cup, is pretty much a write-off already, but bar the worst possible end to a season we'll not get sucked into a relegation battle. If we wait til the summer the likes of Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier will be worth even less than they are now thanks to being that little bit older and having that little bit less time to run on their contracts.

We're going to sell popular players at some point, why not just get it over with? Of course, if this is the owners' plan, they will absolutely have to communicate that to the fans because watching top players leave with nobody else coming in is going to send the fanbase into a tailspin.

What do you think? Are we just making excuses or is there potential in this theory? Let us know in the comments.