Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick has spoken exclusively to CaughtOffside to discuss how Newcastle could approach the transfer market following their takeover last week.
The Magpies are now up there with the richest clubs in world football, and can surely start thinking about ambitious signings to transform their team like Manchester City did when they were bought in 2008.
This has unsurprisingly led to plenty of transfer rumours in the press involving possible targets to come in and form a new-look Newcastle side, with some Man Utd players mentioned as being among the names being considered.
Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Donny van de Beek have been touted as possible players Newcastle could look to sign, as per the Daily Mirror, but Chadwick has suggested that they may even aim a little higher than that.
Chadwick expects Newcastle’s new owners will have big ambitions for the club, and that ultimately it’s players like Mohamed Salah or Erling Haaland who’d really take the club to the next level.
“It’s going to be hugely interesting,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside. “They obviously want success and they’ll want success quickly. It’s been a bit of a dry spell for them and they’ve under-achieved since those days under Kevin Keegan.
“It’ll be interesting to see who they can get, they’ve obviously got the finances to go after the very best players in the world, but it’s how successful they are in terms of acquiring them. Chelsea under Abramovich had that offer of living in London, but can they get those top, top players to the north east of England? In the past it’s been a bit of a challenge persuading the best players to go there.
“It’s an exciting time, it’ll make the Premier League more entertaining if they can add some quality to their squad. There’s nothing better than a packed St James’ Park, it would be electric if they had a great team out there. Obviously you don’t want to see clubs buying success, but with the finances these days that’s what all the top teams are doing, more or less, so it’s really just a case of adding another team to the top five or six at the top of the league. Newcastle are a popular football club overall and they’ve been associated with some entertaining football teams in the past, so they’ll hope this can bring happier times back to the club.
“I wouldn’t imagine someone like Liverpool will be worried just yet, though it might be a worry for them come January if Newcastle put in a £250million bid in for Mohamed Salah! What would Liverpool do, and what would Salah do? If Newcastle get one player of that calibre, more will follow. It’ll be easy to motivate players with the financial gain, and from what I’ve heard in the first two years the whole Financial Fair Play gets thrown into disarray a bit with how it works. It’s certainly a talking point, it’s exciting times ahead for the Newcastle fans.”
When asked about Newcastle possibly raiding Chadwick’s old club Man Utd, the former midfielder responded: “Players like Lingard, Martial and Van de Beek have all got pedigree. Obviously Lingard had that spell at a similar level club in West Ham and showed what he can do last season, and has started this season well. He looks like he’s really back to his best. Martial, you’d say maybe his time at Old Trafford is up with the options they’ve got up front. Van de Beek will have a point to prove.
“It’s those sort of signings you can see Newcastle making, and they’re definitely three players who’d strengthen their squad. But in terms of making that real step up in terms of being contenders for the Premier League or the Champions League it’s players like Salah, who’s obviously got issues with his Liverpool contract, the likes of Haaland – the best players in the world, that would make a real statement.
“Lingard and Van de Beek would improve Newcastle and maybe get them to the Europa League places, but in terms of the finances the club have got they’re probably looking for even more than that.”