Newcastle United finished the January transfer window with five new additions.
It has been a hectic period for the Magpies.
The squad was in desperate need of new recruits and in the end, Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett and Dan Burn are the newbies Eddie Howe will hope can help guide the club to safety.
Newcastle were successful five times this month. But they were also unsuccessful over several other playerrs.
Sven Botman and Diego Carlos are the two big names Newcastle failed to land.
And Jesse Lingard and Hugo Ekitike were also targets for the club.
While it’s been a good window for Newcastle, there is no doubt it could have been better and the club have faced some real challenges.
Interestingly, The Athletic have produced a report this morning about some of those challenges.
Obviously clubs have been aware of the financial might of Newcastle, with some looking to exercise a ‘Newcastle tax’.
But Newcastle also had to contend with agents. The report claims many had been guilty of offering players to Newcastle who hadn’t even been put up for sale by their club. Or they didn’t want to join a relegation-threatened club.
This was a move designed to draw interest from other clubs. Or prompt the player’s current club into offering a pay-rise.
Newcastle’s new owners should be commended following difficult January transfer window
The Athletic’s piece really does suggest it’s been a very challenging first transfer window for Newcastle’s new owners.
It was probably always going to be.
It seems there have been lots of hurdles to navigate and so, to get five new faces in is good going. And three of those five are defenders.
Newcastle have been really poor defensively this season and it was vital to strengthen the backline. Another player in addition to Burn would have been nice. But it’s clearly been tough and hopefully the former Brighton man can step up and make a big difference.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
