With a month left of the window, where do United stand?
CHRIS WAUGH LOOKS AT THE QUESTIONS MAGPIES FANS ARE ALL ASKING
WITH less than a month left in the summer transfer window, Newcastle United need to make rapid progress in the coming weeks if they are to complete all of the business Rafa Benitez desires.
Even with Kenedy arriving as the third signing of the summer, the Magpies still need to offload a significant number of players, while at least three further additions are needed - most pressing of which is a striker.
With the transfer window now picking up pace given that the World Cup is about to end in Russia, Newcastle fans are understandably keen to learn about what is going on behind the scenes at St James’ Park at the moment.
NUFC Writer Chris Waugh, who spoke with Benitez at the 1892 Foundation Cup at the Magpies’ Academy on Tuesday, took part in a Q&A session and here are his answers to your questions.. HOW CLOSE IS ALEKSANDAR MITROVIC TO JOINING FULHAM? Fulham and Newcastle have been in negotiations over Mitrovic since before the season ended. There is no doubt the Cottagers want the Serbia international, but it is just about agreeing both the price for Mitrovic, and also the structure of the payments to Newcastle.
The Magpies want £20m for the forward, and would prefer a large portion of that to be paid up front so that Benitez can reinvest it into his squad, but the Cottagers are keen to stagger the payments a little more.
Mitrovic is not due back for preseason training for another couple of weeks, given that he was at the World Cup with Serbia, and Newcastle would prefer for the situation to be resolved before then.
But Benitez cannot countenance letting Mitrovic leave until he has another striker signed up, and an acceptable offer is received, so there is a chance the forward will return to Tyneside.
However, I would expect to see some firm progress on Mitrovic’s future within the fortnight, given that United need to sell him in order to reinvest in their squad. COULD RAFA RECEIVE DEFERRED PAYMENTS FROM THE MOUSSA SISSOKO AND GEORGINIO WIJNALDUM SALES? MIGHT THERE NOT BE ANOTHER £10M OR SO FOR RAFA’S KITTY FROM THIS SOURCE, COURTESY OF LIVERPOOL AND SPURS? The bulk of Benitez’s transfer kitty will come from the TV money – a lump sum of between £40m-£50m, which I understand should drop into Newcastle’s bank account imminently – but you are right to highlight deferred payments from past sales.
The Sissoko and Wijnaldum deals were split over five and four years respectively – meaning Newcastle are due roughly £10m-£12m at some stage in 2018 for those transfers.
I have to be honest and state I am unsure exactly when Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are due to pay the next instalments, but Benitez will have pushed for those proceeds to be included in his budget.
Unfortunately, Newcastle still need to get players off the books due to the inflated size of their first-team squad, but also due to the high wage bill. There are several complicating factors which have made Benitez’s budget smaller than fans feel it should be – particularly given the lack of permanent signings in January – but United have to try and maximise it best they can, and bolster it with player sales if possible. HAVE NUFC SIGNED YANNICK TOURE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT SQUADS? Toure should be a Newcastle United Under-23 player for the 2018/19 campaign – and it is understood that this deal was all-but wrapped up earlier in the summer.
However, for whatever reason, it has yet to be confirmed by Newcastle. The former Young Boys striker is seen as a real prospect for the future, with the 17-year-old set to play in the Magpies’ development set up initially with a long-term view to potentially pushing for involvement in the first-team squad.
A pacy forward or attacking-midfielder, Toure will aim to translate his encouraging form in Switzerland into English football. WAS NEWCASTLE’S INTEREST IN ALASSANE PLEA GENUINE? Newcastle’s interest in Alassane Plea was, and still is, genuine. Borussia Monchengladbach are, according to reports on the Continent, close to signing the 25-year-old, but it is understood that Newcastle have not yet fully given up hope of luring the Frenchman to Tyneside.
United have yet to increase their initial bid of £20m, and have been told to offer closer to £25m for Plea by Nice – and that is partly down to the premium which is placed on transfers as soon as Premier League clubs are involved.
Sources in France suggest Plea would be keen to play under Benitez at Newcastle, but the forward also believes the Bundesliga may be a more suitable destination in terms of his own development, and for that reason Nice are willing to let him move to Germany for a slightly lower fee than if he chose England.
I wrote an article earlier this month stressing we have been here before with Newcastle and Ligue 1 strikers – and the Magpies have the opportunity to show it is going to be different this time.
However, at this stage, it looks like the Plea situation is similar to the Nicolai Jorgensen saga in January when Newcastle offered well below the asking price and simply would not increase their bid high enough. The Townsend-Ritchie situation is a very complicated one, and I think Benitez’s approach to this has been mis-portrayed somewhat. Let’s be clear: Benitez does not want to sell Ritchie and he is not actively looking to offload the Scotland international. However, Benitez is keen to