Newcastle’s summer transfer plans: Key positions, type of player and FFP limits

‘Phase One’ of the Newcastle United rebuild is almost over. Newcastle coach Eddie Howe and sporting director Dan Ashworth There is a realisation Newcastle simply do not have the player pool to compete in Europe’s elite club tournament and the Premier League simultaneously, so a top-four finish at the end of May might expedite additional elements of their revamp. But budgets and Ashworth’s remit to reduce the average age of the squad even further — according to Transfermarkt, Newcastle have the fifth-highest average age in the Premier League at 27.1 years — means that calculated gambles may need to be taken on imports from overseas or promising EFL players to bolster the ranks below the first XI. “We don’t have an abundance of players.” According to the CIES Football Observatory, Newcastle have used the second-fewest players in the English top flight over the last 365 days. Midfield Although numbers are sorely needed — Newcastle only have four senior midfielders, plus 20-year-old Elliot Anderson, following Jonjo Shelvey’s January departure to Forest — Howe will not just accept any addition.