Barry Glendenning has been speaking on the latest edition of The Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast, and has been discussing transfers for Premier League clubs.
One of the topics that he spent some time on was Newcastle United’s recent transfer business, and tried to play devil’s advocate when discussing the Toon’s signings of Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Jamal Lewis, who joined on Tuesday from Norwich City.
It seems as if Glendenning thinks that you could argue that Newcastle’s latest recruits are not as good as they may seem on paper.
He said: “I think on the face of it, they do look like three very good signings, but all three of them played in teams that got relegated last season.
“Jamal Lewis was a mainstay in a defence that was comically inept, so if you want to play devil’s advocate, you could argue, are they that good?
“Callum Wilson didn’t have a good season; Ryan Fraser, I think his season was interrupted by injury – but then he left Bournemouth high and dry, didn’t renew his contract for the run-in, which got them relegated.”
Do you think these will be good signings for Newcastle?
Yes, good additions to the squad
No, we could have done better
TIF Thoughts…
Lewis was indeed part of a Norwich City side that conceded 75 goals in the Premier League; however, he was wanted by Liverpool earlier in the transfer window, so the Toon could be getting a potential coup, there.
Wilson scored eight Premier League goals last season, which was six fewer than the year before, though that was still two more than the Toon’s strikers managed between them last season, so you could argue he is an upgrade on the alternatives they have got.
Fraser only scored once and provided four assists in 28 league games for Bournemouth last season before deciding not to sign an extension as he left the club at the end of June.
However, the 2018/19 season saw him provide 14 league assists, so if the Toon can bring Fraser back to his best form, they may well have signed a fine player in the Scotsman.
We see Glendenning’s point, but overall we think these three could yet be good additions for Newcastle.