Newcastle transfer round-up: Magpies to rival Chelsea for Juventus star amid Warren Barton claim

Newcastle United host Arsenal on Sunday looking to light the blue touch paper on their 2025/26 season.

The Magpies are 15th in the table with just one win and three goals from their opening five games, already enduring three goalless draws against Aston Villa, Leeds and Bournemouth.

That said, Eddie Howe endured a tough summer, missing out on a number of key targets, while scrambling in some replacement signings in a bid to keep his side competitive after an excellent 2024/25 season. And that’s without mentioning the sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool after a long transfer saga.

With all that in mind, there was bound to be a teething period. And yet, attention will already be turning to the January window, with further targets undoubtedly being lined up as Newcastle continue to establish themselves among England’s elite.

To that end, here are some of the latest rumours doing the rounds at St. James’ Park:

Newcastle looking to rival Chelsea for Manuel Locatelli

Despite all the turnover, midfield remained a relatively stable position for Newcastle in the summer, with Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Joe Willock and Lewis Miley still the options filling those slots. The only major change was the sale of Sean Longstaff to Leeds United.

But that could be set to change in January, with a report in the Daily Briefing stating that Newcastle are among a host of clubs interested in signing Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli. Chelsea, Aston Villa, West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen are also tracking the 32-time Italy international, who has started four of Juve’s five Serie A matches at the start of this season.

It’s understood that the Old Lady are looking for a €40million fee for Locatelli, who is about to enter the final two years of his contract.

Warren Barton urges Newcastle to find their ‘Mohamed Salah’

According to former Newcastle full-back Warren Barton, the club are yet to sign an ‘X-factor’ player.

The Magpies have spent big under their Saudi owners in recent years, being rewarded with two Champions League qualifications and an EFL Cup title. However, they have had to be astute with their signings to avoid PSR backlash, methodically scouting the best value-for-money options.

But Barton believes Newcastle must now go out and sign their own ‘Mohamed Salah’ figure in order to move to the next level.

“We haven’t got that. So that’s the next level for us, for Newcastle to be that next level team, is to find that X factor player that can do it when you’re not playing well like a Mohamed Salah he might bend it in the top corner,” the 219-time Newcastle player - capped three times for England - said, adding: “We haven’t got that yet.”

Bayern Munich furios over Nick Woltemade transfer

Newcastle lost out in numerous transfer battles over the summer, including for Hugo Ekitike, Marc Guehi, Joao Pedro and James Trafford.

But one player they did attract amid interest elsewhere is Nick Woltemade, who arrived from Stuttgart despite being a major target for Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

The presence of Harry Kane in Bavaria was understood to be a major factor in Woltemade steering clear of Bayern. But according to journalist Danny Kelly, Die Rekordmeister were furious to have missed out on the Germany international.

“All I will say about that very quickly, and from talking to my colleagues on Trans Europe Express [podcast], is that Bayern Munich are beside themselves with fury that Nick Woltemade went to Newcastle,” Kelly said on the View from the Lane podcast.

“They thought he would be automatically straight into the Bayern squad, but part of the reason he didn’t go, of course, was because he knew he wouldn’t get game time up front [ahead of Harry Kane]. He wants to play as a striker, and he didn’t go to Munich for that exact reason.

“So Munich are furious with themselves and the boy for allowing this situation to develop.”

Woltemade has scored once in four appearances across all competitions for Newcastle so far.

Joe Gomez attracting Serie A interest after Newcastle summer look

Defence was another area Newcastle looked to strengthen this summer and once it became clear they couldn’t get Guehi, Malick Thiaw was the man to arrive from AC Milan.

According to Empire of the Kop, Newcastle were one of eight Premier League clubs considering a move for Joe Gomez, alongside the likes of Aston Villa, Everton, West Ham and local rivals Sunderland.

Thiaw’s signing means the Magpies probably don’t need to spend big in this position for a while, but if they do, it’s hard to see Gomez being the solution now. That’s because AC Milan are weighing up a January swoop for the 15-time England international, according to Calciomercato.

Gomez will likely be very keen on a move to the San Siro, given he’s played just 29 minutes of Premier League football so far this season, with his only start of the campaign coming in a 2-1 win over Southampton in the EFL Cup. The former Charlton Athletic man will also be looking at the example set by Fikayo Tomori, who has won Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles and played 183 times since swapping England for Milan in 2021.