Newcastle’s top four hopes could rely on transfer business

While they’re recovering players slowly but surely, it’s the transfer business they conduct between now and the end of January that could revive their top-four hopes.

At the start of the season, the Magpies were one of the teams that Premier League betting odds suggested would be in with a solid chance of finishing in the top four. That’s even though they were competing in the Champions League, too.

But injuries, Tonali’s suspension, and perhaps the extra workload have seen them struggle to even stay in touch with the top four places, and now it could be the transfer business they do that could prove pivotal.

Players are returning to action for Newcastle, such as local lad Dan Burn, but because of how consistent injury problems have been since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, adding the quality players needed just in case could be crucial, with the strength in depth having been tested to the max already.

Of course, Newcastle are a club that has an embarrassment of riches but has been and are determined to be prudent in how they operate in the transfer market.

However, you could argue that this is a needs-must situation, as missing out on Champions League football would prove financially costly, to say the least.

An example of something the club could be forced to do is replace the injured Nick Pope with a high-quality replacement.

They have Martin Dubravka and Loris Karius available as adequate deputies, but they’re levels below Pope, and bringing in someone on the level of David de Gea, a rumoured target on a free, would make sense.

The Magpies would certainly have to be cautious where FFP is concerned and take into account what they plan to do transfer-wise in the summer.

But summer plans could be dramatically affected if Champions League football, or at the very least, Europa League football, isn’t secured come the end of the season.

An immediate problem for Newcastle is that they can’t really balance the spending off in January by letting players leave, as they don’t have enough players available due to injuries to first-team squad members.

Otherwise, they could have potentially wheeled and dealed, which the club’s hierarchy may have been more on board with.

The alternative could be to operate in the free agent market, such as with De Gea, and also the loan market.

Newcastle have one loan player in their squad at present, Chelsea’s Lewis Hall, and there’s the potential to turn that deal permanent, which would then free up two Premier League loan spots.

But whether they could get the type of players they’re looking for out of fellow top-flight teams is another question in what will be an important transfer window at St. James’ Park.