Journalist Dean Jones has been told Newcastle United still have ‘£60-70m’ this summer and have identified centre-forward, winger and centre midfielder as the areas to target.
After being the biggest spenders in Europe back in January, Newcastle have continued to bolster their squad during the summer window, with Sven Botman, Matt Targett and Nick Pope all arriving to shore up what now looks like a rigid defence.
However, the Magpies have shown that they aren’t going to overspend foolishly, as displayed by their decision to walk away from a deal for Hugo Ekitike.
That has left Eddie Howe without any signings in attacking areas, with a potential move for Moussa Diaby also falling short as he looks set to continue at Bayer Leverkusen.
Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is also being heavily linked with a switch to St James’ Park this off-season and Jones has provided an update on the club’s plans for the remainder of the window.
Speaking on the Chasing Green Arrows YouTube channel, he said:
“I’m told that it’s two forwards that Newcastle are basically trying to sign; a centre-forward and a wide forward. Their budget is – well, someone told me £60m; someone else told me £70m. So somewhere between £60-70m for two forwards, most of that is going to probably go into the centre-forward, particularly as they want it to be Calvert-Lewin.
“I guess the problem there is Calvert-Lewin is going to be what, £50m? You see what Richarlison went for, you’re not getting Calvert-Lewin for any less than that.
“£10-20m for the wide forward isn’t actually that much, and they’d obviously been looking at Moussa Diaby and they can’t do that.
“They’ve been linked with umpteen other players recently. They were even linked with Harvey Barnes at £50m. I mean, if they had £50m for that sort of player, it wouldn’t be going on Harvey Barnes. Look, don’t get me wrong, Barnes is a very good player, but there are other players they would prioritise over him.
“So Newcastle are definitely not finished in this transfer market, might also sign another central midfielder, but these are the finishing touches.”
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During the second half of last season, the Magpies attained the fourth-highest points total in the division as Howe led a fine turnaround, but he may still feel short in some areas of his squad.
On the right wing, Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy are his only two natural options, making it a standout position in need of improvement in order for the Toon to climb further, as the duo struck a goal each in over 3,000 minutes of action combined last season.
Through the middle, Chris Wood, who signed for £25m in January, netted just twice in 16 appearances, and given Callum Wilson’s injury history, another option may well be needed up top.
Meanwhile, in midfield, although Joelinton has looked rejuvenated in the engine room, Howe may look to add another body, but it remains to be seen who they could target after Jesse Lingard, with whom they were linked, signed for Nottingham Forest.