Newcastle United may have to sell to buy in the near future, as they did in 2023.
At Newcastle United, there is a lot of talk about financial fair play or profit and sustainability laws right now. It is impeding their efforts in the January transfer window, as the club is wary of overpaying.
That is of no use to Eddie Howe, who is eager to add new faces to a squad devastated by injuries during what has been a difficult season thus far.
The majority of Newcastle’s signings had little to no influence during the summer transfer window. This is mostly due to factors outside of Newcastle’s control, but it has caused a problem on Tyneside.
The owners’ ability to invest in the squad is becoming increasingly difficult, prompting suspicion that a key player such as Bruno Guimaraes may be forced to leave the club. That would be sad, but it would free up a lot of money that could be spent back into the squad.
Trading players is a common occurrence in football these days, and Eddie Howe is no stranger to it.
Eddie Howe wanted Allan Saint-Maximin to stay at Newcastle.
During an interview with TalkSPORT, he discussed player trading and mentioned that he did it last year when Allan Saint-Maximin departed the club. Despite the fact that Howe desired to keep him.
“It’s difficult to comment on individual players, but if you look at Manchester City or Arsenal, they’ve traded players.” Not between them, but in recent windows,” he explained.
“We did it with Allan Saint-Maximin, a player we didn’t want to sell but had to last summer.” That will continue to be the case, giving us the opportunity to keep things interesting.”
Newcastle made sense in selling Saint-Maximin.
During the summer transfer window, Newcastle sold Allan Saint-Maximin to Al Ahli. He joined the Saudi Arabian club for £23 million, causing an emotional farewell to the Toon Army.
Many fans, as well as Howe, were disappointed to see him go. He has claimed that he would have like to keep Maxi on Tyneside, but it was unavoidable.
The Frenchman was replaced by Harvey Barnes, and his departure allowed Tino Livramento to enter. Since coming, he has been a revelation, which Newcastle will no doubt consider as vindication for their choice to let Saint-Maximin go.
They could be in the same boat this summer, with another famous player perhaps leaving. It could be someone much more powerful this time, such as Bruno or Alexander Isak.
While Saint-Maximin was beloved at Newcastle, losing someone like Bruno or Isak would be considerably worse. ASM was popular, but he wasn’t always the best match for Howe’s team. He was a wise choice to cash in on because he recouped a significant amount of money without significantly disturbing the squad.
However, the squad would be severely disturbed if someone like Bruno left, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
