Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe did not get his wish during the summer transfer window.
The Magpies had a pretty disastrous transfer window, with Paul Mitchell failing to make any major signings that would severely enhance Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United squad.
In the aftermath, Paul Mitchell has pointed the blame elsewhere, despite the sporting director being in charge of Newcastle’s recruitment.
At the start of the summer, Newcastle wanted a right winger and a centre-back. By the time the window closed, neither had arrived at St James’ Park.
The top target had ended up being a right-sided centre-back, with Eddie Howe wanting to sign Marc Guehi. Mitchell believed he could get a deal done, but failed to bring the Crystal Palace defender to Tyneside.
Instead, he was priced out of a deal, with Crystal Palace wanting £75million for Guehi.
Newcastle have started well despite not signing Marc Guehi
That was too much for Newcastle to pay, and resulted in the Magpies walking away. It has left Eddie Howe short of centre-back options, which was summed up by Emil Krafth filling in for Fabian Schar during his suspension.
Despite a lack of options at the back, Newcastle have started the season well. They are unbeaten, and sit third in the Premier League with 10 points from four games.
Their good start to the season continued on Sunday, as Newcastle came from behind to beat Wolves 2-1 at Molineux.
Ian Wright makes Marc Guehi observation after seeing Newcastle win against Wolves
But despite winning, Ian Wright has told Premier League Productions that it was very evident from the Magpies’ performance why they tried so hard to sign Guehi from Crystal Palace.
“You could see why they went hard for Marc Guehi,” he said.
“You could see with a player of that quality, with his pace, the way he can progress the ball coming out of defence. You could see a real solid spine at Newcastle and then anything can happen.
“Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen their form yet. It feels like it is coming into place and you can see why they wanted Guehi.”
Marc Guehi has not enjoyed a good start to the season after missing out on Newcastle transfer
Newcastle did not defend well against Wolves, and were bailed out by Nick Pope on multiple occasions.
It is easy to understand Wright’s comments about Guehi, although the England international has suggested in recent weeks that maybe he is not the answer to Newcastle’s problems.
He has endured a poor start to the season in a red and blue shirt, and did not cover himself in glory as Jamie Vardy scored against the Eagles at the weekend.
It remains to be seen if Newcastle will reignite their interest in Guehi in January. It may all depend on how desperate the Magpies are for a centre-back come the end of the year.
As it stands, Newcastle’s priority is a right winger, while the hope will be that Guehi’s asking price drops.
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