Alan Shearer has now shared how many players he thinks Newcastle United will have to sign this summer to get back to last season’s impressive form.
Newcastle have been a bit of a disappointment this season regardless of where they were two years ago, expectations have certainly changed and a lot of the performances have just been underwhelming.
Speaking on the BBC’s coverage of Newcastle’s FA Cup tie, Shearer claimed that Newcastle may be looking at four or five new players to really give this team what it needs in the summer.
Shearer gives his Newcastle verdict
Injuries have obviously played a huge part in Newcastle’s season and against Man City yesterday they were again missing key figures like Joelinton in midfield and Kieran Trippier and Nick Pope at the back.
But injuries can’t be the excuse for every single defeat while it hardly gets a mention when Newcastle manage to record a victory like the 3-0 win and dominant performance against Wolves just a couple of weeks ago.
There’s certainly a lack of depth in the squad and last season Newcastle were just fortunate to both keep the majority of their players fit and healthy and take advantage of the fact the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool all had poor seasons.
This year, however, that lack of depth has been exposed and it’s clear that Newcastle don’t yet have the squad to compete with the very bets in the Premier League and Shearer suggests it could take five more signings before they can really give it a go.
On Newcastle, Shearer said: “I would say though, he needs fresh players to come in the summer. He needs that opportunity to get a few out, then they need a new set of legs coming in.
“There are a lot of players who have certainly not hit the heights of last season, this season – at least four or five of them.”
Newcastle need huge improvements at the back
As Shearer rightly points out, there are some key areas of Newcastle’s squad which massively need upgrading in the summer as they are being targeted week in week out by opposition teams.
The first that naturally springs to mind is the left-back position which is currently occupied by Dan Burn but has proved to be a weak point in the defence.
Eddie Howe clearly doesn’t quite fancy Lewis Hall in that position just yet, so it is imperative for Newcastle that they find someone more suited to that role who doesn’t need midfield players sprinting back to help him out every time.
How much money they have to spend is unclear, but they may also have to move on the likes of Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron if they really want to improve multiple areas of the squad without losing their star players.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
