So what now? What we expect to happen this season as Newcastle United ignore opportunity to strengthen
As I sit here just past 5 pm with just under two hours left in the January transfer window, I feel I can confidently write this piece and not have to make any adjustments before it goes live at 8 pm.
Newcastle United have once again ignored a golden opportunity to strengthen the squad. in mid-season. Even if the move for Patrick Zabi comes off between now and when this goes live, the fact that he's being loaned back to Stade Reims means the point still stands.
In the past, PSR has been the driving force behind Newcastle's January inaction, but this time, we know we have money. Yes, PSR is still a concern, and we do have to be careful, but there was headroom available.
We were told by reliable sources that Newcastle had set aside £25 million to go and find a defender. Did they forget about this or what?
Newcastle are so terrified of breaching PSR that it would rather let the team suffer
While we agree with the club's policy of not spending money for the sake of it and then being stuck with a long-term problem to fix a short-term issue, the injuries are building up in the squad, and the team has been underperforming all season.
Just one new face could have made such a massive difference.
Instead, we've kept our hands in our pockets and will look to spend in the summer instead. That would be fine, but what market are we going to be shopping in come the summer? Not the one we need to be, I bet.
The Champions League conundrum is one we can't solve
The Catch-22 we find ourselves in, once again, is that Newcastle want to be competing in the Champions League every season. To do that, you need Champions League-quality players. But to attract Champions League-quality players, you need to be competing in the Champions League every season.
Once again, competing in the Champions League looks to be to the detriment of Premier League form, and the chances of qualifying again are slipping away each time we leave the field after a Premier League outing.
If we don't nab a European place again this season, how are we going to convince new stars to join in the summer? It's going to teh same story as last summer all over again. Looking at the right players but then missing out to 'bigger' teams with bigger budgets.
What will Newcastle have to show for their efforts this season?
The Carabao Cup is all but gone, the FA Cup is still there, but Aston Villa away won't be easy. If we get past Qarabag in the Champions League, we come up against Chelsea or Barcelona, so that's likely the end of our run, and the League looks like a lost cause now too.
Ultimately, Newcastle could finish this season with absolutely nothing to show for it, which is going to make not just finding new players tough, but also keeping hold of the ones we've got.
We wouldn't be surprised at all to see Newcastle lose Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali this summer. And while those sales could net us a fair chunk of change, we'll have nobody to spend it on. Basically, by trying to be clever this month and save money, the board could have cost us massively.
