Newcastle aim to kickstart transfer business with Howe at the helm

Newcastle aim to kickstart transfer business with Howe at the helm

Mark Douglas

5 – 6 minutes

The Magpies missed out on the signing of Joao Pedro, but hope to bring in James Trafford and Anthony Elanga

Eddie Howe is back in the driving seat as Newcastle United look to finally get motoring on first-team transfer business.

With the Magpies holding a second round of interviews with Nottingham Forest’s Ross Wilson and well regarded former Arsenal assistant sporting director Jason Ayto for the director of football role vacated by Paul Mitchell at the start of this week, a lion’s share of the responsibility for getting deals done in the meantime resides with Howe’s nephew Andy.

Already an influential behind-the-scenes figure in identifying potential targets – he was one of the driving forces behind Newcastle landing Sandro Tonali from Milan in 2023 – Howe will now dovetail with the Magpies’ boss and head of recruitment Steve Nickson as part of an interim transfer team at St James’ Park.

The swing back towards a manager-led strategy – noted with interest by recruitment sources at other Premier League clubs – represents a fascinating shift in dynamic from 12 months ago when Howe’s influence was diluted by the ultimately acrimonious arrival of Mitchell.

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While Howe’s power has been earned by results on the pitch – where his work last season in turning around a faltering campaign into a historic, trophy-winning success approached miraculous – a return to frontline recruitment duties significantly changes the picture at a club in desperate need of blue-chip first-team signings if they are to build on qualifying for the Champions League last season.

While the optics of their early summer efforts haven’t been great – priority target Joao Pedro opted for Chelsea despite a Newcastle bid last week – there’s little panic on Tyneside.

Bouncing back to broker a deal for Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford – perhaps as early as next week – is on the cards, while Newcastle remain in dialogue with Nottingham Forest for Anthony Elanga, who is understood to be keen on the move.

Valuations on both potential deals have yet to be met but “it’s not as simple as bids being rejected”, says one source.

The suggestion is that ongoing communication on those deals is a sign that something can be done.

Crucially considering the culture that Howe has created at the club – and this was not the case with Joao Pedro by the weekend – “we only want players who want to come to us”.

With Marc Guehi interest having cooled, Newcastle are also working on deals for a defender and a Joao Pedro alternative that are yet to hit the public domain.

Their preference, understandably, is for names to emerge only at a late stage in the deal.

The reason for no tangible progress so far appears to be the club’s obsession with getting value.

While Joao Pedro’s preference in the end was to move to west London, a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge on wages that eclipsed what Newcastle are able to offer probably played a part.

Until revenues grow – and they are heading in the right direction, albeit with room for improvement – that remains a problem for Newcastle.

They remain confident that they’ll make those move, but hopes of rapid progress – raised by Howe himself in May – always looked overly optimistic given a market of high prices that has been inflated by £60m-plus asking prices for the likes of Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – MAY 25: Newcastle striker Callum Wilson waves to the Gallowgate End Newcastle Fans after the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Everton FC at St James’ Park on May 25, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Callum Wilson’s five-year spell at Newcastle looks set to come to an end (Photo: Getty)

The feeling now is that moving into a new accounting period for profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) purposes will encourage the market to get a bit more realistic.

And they do need to get moving because as well as a right-winger, they may soon need further options up front to supplement Alexander Isak and Will Osula, who is being primed for more first-team opportunites next season.

The i Paper understands that, while talks have been held with his representatives over fresh terms and no official communication has emerged yet, striker Callum Wilson still looks set to exit Newcastle with his contract having expired at the end of June.

And there remains doubt about whether John Ruddy – who has attracted Championship interest – will commit for a further year to add experience in the goalkeeping department.

The narrative so far? Don’t judge Newcastle on what they haven’t done this summer.

With ambitious targets, a good sales and money to spend, decent arrivals feel inevitable.

Their financial muscle in this transfer window has undoubtedly been strengthened by restraint over the last 12 months, which hands them considerable headroom in relation to PSR.

But sources say that the club do not want to use all of that capacity to maneouvre in one go.

It feels like a budget of around £150m-175m before player trading is eminently feasible – spending it the right way was always going to be a challenge.