Once a week for an hour during the Premier League season, The Athletic’s Newcastle United subscribers have the opportunity to ask us for our views and insight into what’s happening at their club.
Here, we have pulled together some of their questions and our answers from Monday’s edition of our Inside Newcastle live Q&A, which included queries about Bryan Mbeumo interest, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali’s ability to play together, and whether a goalkeeper will be targeted in January.
Want to ask a question on anything Newcastle-related? Chris Waugh will be back next Monday at 2pm GMT (9am ET) for another session.
Is the club’s main priority target Bryan Mbeumo? — James W.
Waugh: With eight goals in 10 Premier League appearances so far in 2024-25, to go with his 18 goals and 14 assists over the past two full seasons, fan excitement surrounding links to Brentford’s Mbeumo is understandable.
He is Premier League-experienced and can play across the front three, but he has excelled on the right wing, which is the position many supporters — and many within Newcastle — feel requires the greatest strengthening.
There is definite admiration for Mbeumo inside Newcastle and the Cameroon international has been discussed. Yet, while I respect those who have reported that Mbeumo is Newcastle’s first-choice January target, The Athletic’s understanding is that the club are yet to identify precisely who, if anyone, they will make a definitive move for come the new year.
While not ruling out a mid-season move for Mbeumo, a January transfer seems a stretch at this stage. Brentford are hard sellers and will not accept a low-ball price for Mbeumo — there are suggestions of a fee in excess of £40million ($52m) — while, at 25, he is slightly older than the kind of player Paul Mitchell would ideally like to recruit. It would also represent a continuation of Premier League-based players being signed more often than not and, while Newcastle intend to continue recruiting domestically, Mitchell’s stated goal is to widen the recruitment pool.
Eddie Howe is yet to really sit down and finalise January plans with his recruitment department, so only when he does so later this month will definitive targets arise.
Newcastle are admirers of Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Do you think the success of the Joe Willock-Joelinton axis means that Anthony Gordon should move to the right, which negates the need for a new right winger? — Patrick S.
Waugh: January plans are still being formulated and how the team is performing and the relationships within it will affect Newcastle’s mid-season business. They have positions they want to strengthen and have intended to do so long-term — like a right-sided centre-back and a right winger — but they also want to be flexible enough to tweak their blueprint, for example if they get an injury crisis in a specific area.
When it comes to Gordon on the right, I do like the 23-year-old on that flank and I consistently said this on Pod on the Tyne last season. At his best, he is most effective from the left and feels most comfortable on that flank, but sometimes I feel he can overdo it by cutting inside too often. On the right, he is almost forced into playing as a conventional winger and, while that dilutes his goalscoring threat somewhat, it stretches opposition defences and offers him opportunities to provide world-class crosses like for Alexander Isak’s goal against Arsenal.
But I am not sure that two matches are enough for Newcastle to entirely rewrite their prospective January plans yet. Joelinton has been excellent in that hybrid left-wing-cum-No-8 role, while Joe Willock’s running ability adds a welcome dimension, but Gordon and Harvey Barnes were signed as left wingers. At some stage, one of those will regain their spot and Howe will continue to use Joelinton as a left-sided forward, but not in every match.
It is all about balance. For now, right wing remains the position Newcastle are most likely to try and strengthen in January. They will not sign someone for the sake of it, however, and as with Mbeumo, they will only make offers for players they think provide value for money and who they believe will genuinely improve the first XI.
That XI on Saturday provided great balance against Arsenal but now they must prove they can do so on the road, starting at Nottingham Forest.
Interested to get your thoughts on the Bruno Guimaraes-Sandro Tonali conundrum — Jordan C.
Waugh: The debate surrounding whether Tonali and Guimaraes can — and indeed should — play together is fascinating. Against Chelsea, it was Tonali as the No 6, with Guimaraes dropping out, then against Arsenal it was the other way round.
In the four Premier League matches they have started together this season, Newcastle have drawn two, lost two and won zero. In the six games that Tonali has been left out, Newcastle have won four, drawn one and lost one. That is not necessarily to draw a direct correlation but, considering the positive win-percentage stats when Sean Longstaff starts, it is an interesting contrast.
When Newcastle signed Tonali, they did so because they wanted a midfielder who could play (almost) equally as well at No 6 and No 8. It is rare that players can do that, certainly at Premier League level. The Italian was seen as a player who could both complement Guimaraes as well as step in for him, given that Howe spent the 2022-23 campaign constantly worried the Brazilian would get injured.
There was, however, also a begrudging acceptance that Guimaraes was likely to depart Tyneside within 12 to 24 months of Tonali arriving. That has not come to pass, much to Howe’s delight, but it also means that Tonali is no longer a longer-term replacement for Guimaraes, but someone who needs to fit into the side alongside him. So far, when he has started as a No 8 and Guimaraes as a No 6, Newcastle have not quite looked right.
When Tonali came on against Arsenal, he did so at No 6, while Guimaraes shifted to the left. Clearly, Howe liked what he saw, but I suspect that the midfield which started against Arsenal will do so at Forest (fitness permitting). That means Tonali may have to be content with a place on the bench.
For now, it may be a case of Tonali or Guimaraes, rather than Tonali and Guimaraes. Regardless, in the longer term, Howe is confident he can find a way of successfully integrating both into the same XI.
Sandro Tonali came off the bench in Newcastle’s win over Arsenal (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Is there still a school of thought inside NUFC for James Trafford or a similar up-and-coming young keeper as a long-term Nick Pope replacement? — Steve P.
Waugh: Trafford remains of interest and, despite having five senior goalkeepers on their books, a shot-stopper is still a position Newcastle hope to strengthen.
While Martin Dubravka is a good keeper, he is stylistically different to Pope, and Newcastle’s entire game plan suffered when the England international was unavailable for the second half of last season. Odysseas Vlachodimos, meanwhile, did reasonably well against AFC Wimbledon, but is yet to convince Howe, and John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie have never played competitively under him.
Instead, a genuine competitor who can challenge Pope is required: ideally, a younger goalkeeper who may come in initially as a No 2 but who is already far enough along in their development to force Newcastle’s current No 1 to raise his levels. Pope has made some excellent saves this season but he also made mistakes against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and Howe believes increased competition can force him to raise his levels further.
Until the final day of the summer, Newcastle were still considering a renewed offer for Trafford. Whether they make a fresh approach to Burnley in January remains to be seen, but is being considered.
Is Howe’s return to something that resembles 2022-23 an acceptance that he’s been unable to evolve enough and he’s decided to revert back to type? If so, does that put a ceiling on what Newcastle can achieve under Howe? — Jonathan G.
Waugh: Interestingly, Howe himself referred repeatedly to the team on Saturday bearing the hallmarks of the 2022-23 vintage. What he meant by that was the characteristics Newcastle showed — defensive solidity, pressing intensity, tactical flexibility, a clinical touch in front of goal — but, as you rightly point out, there is a way of looking at that more negatively. Does it suggest a failed attempt to evolve?
To a degree, that is a fair critique. Ironically, Newcastle were actually very good on the ball against Arsenal and advanced possession upfield through Longstaff and Guimaraes well. Yet, for the most part, one area that Howe has yet to really oversee dramatic improvement of at Newcastle is their in-possession game.
Especially away from home, Newcastle remain too inaccurate on the ball and they do not build intricate attacks as consistently as the elite teams do (they are excellent, however, at launching direct attacks). Tonali’s arrival was intended to partly resolve that but, partly because of his 10-month ban, that is yet to really happen.
Regardless, Howe’s Newcastle, at their best, out-sprint opposition sides; they are fitter and better drilled. In essence, that is what I think Howe was talking about on Saturday. It is not so much that he was pleased to see his side return to their stylistic approach of 2022-23 but because they once again showed the fundamentals required to win at this level.
Willock operated as a No 10 out of possession, Gordon played as a right winger, while Lewis Hall offered a more attacking option as a left-back than Dan Burn did two seasons ago, and there was not the direct reversion to a back three without the ball as there was then.
Newcastle must continue to evolve — and arguably at a swifter pace than they have done over the past 18 months — if they are to break into the elite, but I do believe Howe is capable of delivering that. He could do with some help in the transfer market, mind, after two windows without a quality addition.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have beaten Arsenal and Chelsea in their last two games (George Wood/Getty Images)
Do we realistically think if an insane offer (~£120m) comes in for Alexander Isak in January, we won’t sell? I’m all for it. Isak out, Jonathan David in? — Rob D.
Waugh: I cannot envisage a scenario in which Newcastle — and especially Howe — agree to sanction a mid-season exit for Isak.
During the summer, even during the height of the PSR crisis when Chelsea made some speculative enquiries for Isak, Howe refused to countenance losing the 25-year-old. His view was that, if Newcastle lost their world-class striker, they may as well give up because he is the difference-maker. Isak may have started this season more slowly than expected but his 21 Premier League goals in 2023-24 prove he is an elite operator.
Next summer, Newcastle may have a decision to make on Isak if they receive a substantial offer — it would need to be north of £100m for the club to give it any consideration whatsoever — given he will be entering the final three years of his deal, although even then it would still not be a case of “keep or sell”, given the length of time he still has on his contract.
Lille’s David has been watched by Newcastle and there is some admiration for him, but Howe said last month he would not swap Isak for any striker in world football — and he meant it.
GO DEEPER
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(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)
