Eddie needs the hard sell

MY biggest prediction for 2024 is that Newcastle will be big sellers in the summer transfer window... as well as big buyers.

And a top-seven finish will keep Eddie Howe in his job – but anything below and questions will be asked.

Howe faces some big decisions should the club, as looks likely, fail to get back into the Champions League. Even securing a Europa League spot will prove a challenge.

After two years of almost uninterrupted progress Newcastle have hit a blip – falling the wrong side of results during all their recent big games, sometimes by fine margins.

Howe says he can be ruthless and no matter how well his stars have performed since he arrived, they have to keep doing it.

Cash will be needed for a shake-up in the summer, with at least three players needed – a striker, a right winger and an anchor midfielder.

That could require just short of £200million that they don’t have because of profit and sustainability rules.

So some top-dollar sales are needed. Could Miguel Almiron, who blows hot and cold, be cashed in for £40m and sent to a PIF club in Saudi Arabia?

Maybe, but the biggest transfer asset is Bruno Guimaraes who is being eyed by Paris Saint-germain and the Spanish giants. His sale could raise up to £100m.

Howe says in public that Newcastle need to hold on to their best players “as long as possible”.

But he could find the money men saying a sale this summer would be at peak Bruno price and help the club rebuild, like Liverpool did in flogging Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez.

To be a top club the Toon have to be good sellers and reinvest well. They have to play the market not just spend PIF cash.

As a fan that is hard to stomach. Bruno is close to a legend and seems to love Tyneside.

But to kick on without a blank chequebook unpalatable decisions have to be made.