Newcastle United was one club which indeed showed their intent when they convinced manager Rafael Benitez to stay at the club despite their relegation. Benitez quickly identified that he needs to rebuild the squad and has been absolutely ruthless in his approach so far.
While he has not thought twice about letting go of some stalwarts in Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor, the Spanish tactician has ensured that after a long time, despite a large number of incomings, they won’t have the problem of getting the players integrated smoothly into the team. Also with some brilliant piece of business, the Magpies have secured an excellent base to get started for their immediate mission of winning the Championship and getting back into the Premier League.
Ins
Matt Ritchie – Bournemouth, €12m
Dwight Gayle – Crystal Palace, €12m
Grant Halney – Blackburn, €6.6m
Matz Sels – KAA Gent, €6.6m
Ciaran Clark – Aston Villa, €6.6m
DeAndre Yedlin – Tottenham Hotspurs, €5.9m
Mohamed Diame – Hull City, €5.4m
Daryl Murphy – Ipswich, €3.5m
Achraf Lazaar – Palermo, €3.5m
Issac Hayden – Arsenal, €2.9m
Jesus Gamez – Atletico Madrid, Free
Christian Atsu – Chelsea, Loan
Outs
Moussa Sissoko – Tottenham Hotspurs, €35m
Georginio Wijnaldum – Liverpool, €27.5m
Andros Townsend – Crystal Palace, €15.6m
Daryl Janmaat – Watford, €8.9m
Remy Cabella – Marseille, €8m
Papiss Cissse – SD Luneng, €5.8m
Fabricio Coloccini – San Lorenzo, Free
Steven Taylor – Timbers, Free
Tim Krul – Ajax, Loan
Emanuel Riviere – CA Osasuna, Loan
Siem De Jong – PSV Eindhoven, Loan
Adam Armstrong – Barnsley, Loan
Sammy Ameobi – Bolton, Loan
Ivan Toney – Shrewsbury, Loan
Henri Saivet – Saint Etienne, Loan
Florian Thauvin – Marseille, Loan
Haris Vuckic – Bradford City, Loan
Kevin Mbabu – BSC Young Boys, Loan
Verdict
It has been an exceptional transfer window for Newcastle and Benitez, where the manager has been able to successfully persuade some Premier League players to come and join the club in the Championship which is by no means an ordinary feat. The squad looks to be in brilliant shape with the perfect mix of youth and experience in all sections. The most important thing is that Rafa was careful to add some much needed Championship experience in his squad which will play a vital role in the marathon second tier of English football.
They have some much-needed strength in depth for every position and the strong bench will also allow the manager the provision of mixing things up according to the situations or from time to time. With 12 new signings, Benitez has apparently acquired an entirely new team with different strengths to the one he inherited.
The squad looks to be the overwhelming favourites to win the Championship on paper but the challenge now for the manager is to execute his gameplan and management skills to perfection so that his players can actually do it on the pitch over the course of a full season.
Rating: 9/10
