It has been quite a while since I last wrote anything for The Mag and just as I was ready to send this one, I found out that Bruno Guimaraes had officially left Newcastle United for Arsenal.
Due to the roller-coaster ride that is Newcastle United, each time I had previously got close to finishing this article something would happen and I’d have to go back and rewrite a fair bit of it.
So this time, despite Bruno leaving, I have still sent it without rewriting anything. So please bear that in mind when reading it.
The passing of Kevin Keegan originally delayed me contributing anything, I just stopped and shut out football sites for a while. I took it hard.
You see, despite my time in the North East, club football growing up wasn’t my top interest. Cricket, Athletics, Snooker and other sports dominated, including one where I’d go on to play to a decently high level during my early years.
Then I saw the Entertainers play and it flipped a switch inside me in a way that I cannot put into words. This was how I’d imagined football ought to be if utopia were to be brought to life (or as close as was possible, maybe it is just my nostalgia speaking).
I suppose that kind of cavalier football, sending the pulses racing just as a young boy was due to hit puberty could only lead to one thing. I was hooked on Newcastle United. For life.
By any means possible I had to see every game I could of NUFC (in person or otherwise) and it is still that way (though the way money is ending dreams of all but a few clubs and fans in football, I can see it reducing at some point soon going forward).
As I moved on in life to live and work in different parts of the globe for long periods, various passions and pursuits would ebb and flow in their competition for my mind/physical space but Newcastle continued to be locked in the centre of it all.
Photo by The Mag
It never mattered what hour of the 24 the match was on at, neither what I’d be risking for watching it (and how I’d manage to), not even how sad the story became for prolonged periods on the field. THAT was mostly because of what Kevin Keegan showed me was possible, not just on the pitch, but also with the kind of person he was (as would Sir Bobby and Eddie Howe but your first always sticks more in your mind for everything in life).
All my time playing and following football would likely not have happened if that man (and his team) hadn’t lit the torch in me three decades and a bit in the past.
As for the transfer market
I had warned in my December 2025 article that Ross Wilson had the rest of last season to prep for Sandro Tonali’s replacement. When it happened – to the club in 17th spot (twice in a row too!) it did mean I needed a fresh take on things (unlike Gordon moving to a Barca/Bayern abroad).
Credit: Newcastle United FC
I had watched Manzambi a lot in the Europa League through to the finals and he was in my list of players to buy even before the World Cupbut how that saga panned out was another low point. To be fair his best abilities seem more suited to being a winger (pace/trickery/shooting) than a central midfielder. Like Mohammd Kudus I wouldn’t be surprised if his position evolves over time. But to miss out to a team whose financials weren’t far better than ours, who THIS season happen to be in UCL – alternating that with us every season for the past four (will Manzambi alternate seasons between the 2 clubs?) – when we aren’t, meant that we can’t get players on recent pedigree OR financials!
Then the Isak-like saga of Bruno Guimaraes began and it just took the wind out of me completely. And finally the Eddie Howe resignation.
It wasn’t just that I’d desperately wanted Howe as our manager when the takeover happened, it wasn’t even the moments I got to live thanks to where he took the club. There was no person (not even Keegan) that I respected more in the world of football for the way he carried himself every second of his life. The way he spoke regardless of what was being thrown at him, his behaviour, honesty, kindness, integrity, humility – the man was a lesson in how to try to live each day of your life (I suppose it reminded me of both my dad as well as Keegan in how they were as people). I recall when Eddie Howe was asked about Klopp’s behaviour on the touchline he just chose to talk about his own behaviour and how he was always conscious that his kids back home (and other kids) were watching him on TV and he shouldn’t set a bad example for them. I do believe this made Klopp reflect on himself instead of snapping back and he suddenly turned gracious in his future comments on Newcastle United and Howe from that point on. Our team banded together because of him, went the extra mile for him too and now his star players, one by one, had turned opportunistic and not caring what it might do to him, let alone the club.
Our performance levels dipped Oct’25 onwards last season, from when Tonali’s agent started putting him out to the world and after a brief revival early this year, went downhill again when Bruno went on his long injury break.
We pressed successfully on the field when we did it as a team – the previous 3 seasons (barring when there were 10+ injuries in the squad) & when our midfield was played through regularly last season, you could see it wasn’t a team out there. That, as one can see with hindsight now, wasn’t as much due to coaching or tactics but more that each of our elite ‘golden boys’ was distracted by riches elsewhere. Eddie didn’t leave because he felt he couldn’t correct the situation again like in the past. He left because he realised his 4 years of squad building were blown away by the quick shower of bigger money from elsewhere and if he took the new set of talents and made them world class again, this was going to be the outcome again in up to 3 years time because off the field we hadn’t during these last 4 years:
A) built a new stadium to make our financials jump into the category of those pulling his squad apart and
B) challenged the restrictive rules legally a la Man City to get some leeway for ourselves
Why would you want to see your 3-4 precious years of hard work turned to zero repeatedly for no fault of yours and keep starting from the same point again?
Matthias Jaissle
If Matthias Jaissle were to manage to do the same wonders as Howe, the same will happen to his squad too in 2-3 years, because there’s no possibility of a new 80k seat stadium being in use during that time period and thus the wage differential to the Super League six will remain (with SCR playing policeman) by the end of that time period. Everyone involved with the club including the fans know this after how the last 13 months have panned out. To know this going into a new season is demotivating enough for us, hopefully it won’t affect the refreshed squad and they can help us get behind them with their performances on the field.
We seem to have brought in 5 excellent young players, most so young that they won’t count as part of the senior NUFC Premier League 25 man squad. People used to shy away from our Big Joe (also looking to leave), Tonali, Bruno midfield, now they’ll look to have a physical battle with us each game.
As I’d predicted in December, the complete overhaul of our goalkeeping department has happened. However it’s still incomplete in the other area of concern I’d pointed out.
At full-back, especially on the right. Our focus seems to have shifted from the fact that Livramento’s contract has two years to run and in January his value drops a bit and next summer it’ll drop tremendously – to the point we may have to take a loss on what we paid for him. Granted there’s been a lot else happening but we need to either get Tino to extend his contract or leave. We definitely need someone to come in who becomes first choice RB in 12 months time (not just a back up) even if Tino stays, especially given his injury record. And even if we keep Alex Murphy, surely there has to be another back up for Lewis Hall too. And once Bruno’s deal is done, we’ll need a replacement for him too (regardless of Steur’s fast development or Miley stepping into the breach).
Remainder of this summer 2026 transfer window
So what are the smart deals that can be looked at in the remainder of the window for the gaps still in the squad?
Two jump out at me.
Firstly, we need to see why Ederson failed his medical at Man U and if it is going to hamper a deal for us. He’d mentally made his mind up to leave and wants to come to the PL.
There’s another smart piece of business possible once Ayyoub Bouaddi moves to Man City (it’s so not a secret they should announce it anyway) with Citeh likely making Tijjani Reinders available for loan/transfer. A 1 year loan with an option to buy delays the permanent choice for Bruno’s replacement by a year, saves budget (though his £230k/wk wages will be an issue unless Citeh subsidise it), gives a PL ready player with positional flexibility albeit, one lacking the physicality of the players we’re losing in that position.
At full-back we need to go for more experienced players, not just because of how ‘green’ our squad is increasingly becoming but because both Tino and Hall are quite young themselves and have Alex Murphy and Leo Shahar from the academy already champing at the bit behind them. Another pair in the same age group would make all 6 have doubts about their future at NUFC needlessly. We need older players but not by much (so they still have the speed down the wings so essential for Jaissle’s teams) – maybe 24-27 years range, preferably with 2 years or less left on their contracts so they don’t cost a bomb.
One RB option with PL experience (though not from where we’d want it to be is 26 yr old Lutsharel Geertruida at RB Leipzig who played on loan last season at Sunderland and can play multiple positions and should cost £30-35m. Negative is that he’s quite similar to Tino in the sense he’s more of a defender attacking occasionally though he does seem to possess greater pace. If we’re looking for a slightly cheaper option there’s 25 yr old Wilfred Singo at Galatasaray, though why Monaco let him go after he played most games in seasons where they finished 2nd and 3rd in the league needs to be looked at.
As for LB, 23 yr old Nat Brown of Frankfurt caught my eye in Germany’s opening game of the recent World Cup.
While he was mostly a sub the rest of the tournament despite starring that day (albeit vs Curacao), his pace, crossing ability, set piece delivery, cutting inside to shoot mostly mirror Hall (except for extra pace which Jaissle looks for). He ought to be available for up to £35m but given how Frankfurt milked Ekitike’s sale I’d say £40m+ for a back up isn’t where we can afford to go right now.
Brighton have 2 FBs who like to bomb on competing for a starting spot in Kadioglu and De Cuyper, both slightly older than Hall, both suited to playing WB than FB, both on long term contracts so price could be high but if we could persuade one to jump ship they’re worth looking at, especially if Jaissle wants to play three at the back, not so much otherwise. Hugo Bueno from Wolves is similarly valued at around £15m, has PL experience & plays multiple positions and has 2 years left on his contract and will turn 24 the day after the transfer window closes and is still available, though we should get a move on if we want to get him.
This summer’s churn means we’ve been set back by a considerable time period, 13 months back in more peaceful and positive times we could’ve almost looked forward to title challenges in the near future (once we managed to get the balance of UCL-PL simultaneous efforts right) because the squad had stuck together for 3+ years, allowing it to be improved every season.
A certain rodent changed all that especially when we allowed him to get his way. Now we’re back in 2023 (or worse, as Steur, Toure, Bamba etc haven’t arrived with the experience that Bruno, Botman, Pope etc already possessed even if the prices are the same and this time the manager too is new to the club and PL – it is also the first time I’ll see a manager younger than myself at NUFC!) and other sides – including those from outside the ‘six’ have progressed a fair bit.
Having patience is not a guarantee things will go back to how they were the last few years, but we’ll need to show it. We’ve taken so much over the years but hardships are a way of life in some places. As long as the newcomers understand it all and put it all on the line every matchday, we should be ok.
Personally, I am just bracing myself for breaking down when I see the Kevin Keegan tribute on the opening day of the season.