Ross Wilson shuts down Newcastle United transfer claim after £270m spend as Bruno Guimaraes truth revealed
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson has been reflecting on the club’s busy summer transfer window.
Ross Wilson insists the perceived chaos of Newcastle United’s summer transfer window did not reflect the internal reality at the club.
The Magpies sold Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes while also losing head coach Eddie Howe and missing out on several top targets during the first half of the transfer window.
Victor Munoz joined Liverpool while Aston Villa swooped in to sign Johan Manzambi despite Newcastle having deals lined up for both.
United were the subject of much ridicule during the opening weeks of the window, with sporting director Wilson facing increasing external pressure during his first summer transfer window at the club.
But aside from losing Guimaraes, Wilson insists Newcastle largely kept matters under control over the summer.
When asked if he found the window as chaotic or stressful as it seemed from the outside, Wilson said: “Genuinely, no. It never felt chaotic inside. There is no point in us pretending otherwise.
“We did not want to lose Bruno Guimaraes. That was really disappointing that we got to that place in the end, albeit we were happy where we got to in terms of numbers. That was not part of our plan.
“But everything else that happened during the window was part of the plan. That does not mean that every single player [who signed] was the number one name on our list, but that is never the case in any transfer window.
“Clearly we were disappointed a couple of times but, again, that’s normal. No club goes into the window and reaches the end getting every target they set out to get. If they say they did, it is a lie. I do not believe that to be true.”
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A transitional summer for Newcastle United
Newcastle signed Ewen Jaouen, Sean Steur, Bazoumana Toure, Aladji Bamba, Lukas Hornicek, Amar Dedic, Nico Gonzalez and Matias Fernandez-Pardo as part of a major summer squad overhaul.
The £270million transfer spend was a club record and the fourth-highest in Europe, although much of that was offset by a club-record selling window, which saw Newcastle recoup around £240million.
The appointment of Matthias Jaissle to replace Howe also marked a significant change in direction. But Wilson insists that, too, was something Newcastle had been preparing for.
“It never felt chaotic inside at all,” he added. “Big respect to Eddie for the job he did for us over a long period of time. He did a wonderful job bringing that trophy here and that is something that means you will describe, and we all would, a legend of the club for sure.
“The two Champions League [campaigns] as well were massive especially when you consider where he took over the club, positionally where it was.
“But [him leaving] didn’t feel chaotic and it didn’t feel painful. Eddie would be the first person to tell you, when I came to the club 10 or 11 months ago, I’ve been planning in the background for a managerial change for eight or nine of those months.
“We knew which direction we were going to go. Again, that does not mean we were always going to go to Matthias but he was always part of our planning.
“Part of our responsibility as leaders of the club, as sporting director and chief executive, is to be prepared.
“Clearly the timing was not one we had planned for. But clearly we had a plan in place which is why we could execute it as quickly as we did.
“It might have caught some people off guard, but the reason we could move so quickly on it was that we had prepared for a number of months.”
Things went according to plan - almost
Despite playing down the perception of chaos at Newcastle, Wilson’s admission over Guimaraes is significant.
The club had planned for Gordon to leave. Tonali’s departure was also anticipated. But Newcastle intended for Guimaraes to remain one of the central figures at the club.
When the Brazilian indicated his desire to leave, Newcastle had to choose between keeping a high-earning player approaching 30 against his wishes or maximising his value.They ultimately opted for the latter, agreeing a £75million deal with Arsenal.
Newcastle also believed they had agreed to sign Munoz from Osasuna as an immediate replacement for Gordon, only for Liverpool to strike a deal under their noses. Goalkeeper James Trafford ultimately went to Leeds after Newcastle became uncomfortable with the finances involved, while Manzambi chose Villa despite Newcastle agreeing the framework of a £49million deal with Freiburg.
But Wilson insists those disappointments did not derail the wider strategy.
“I think any club that goes through a window will always go in with one or two ideas and come out with one or two different ideas,” he added. “That’s totally normal.
“The plan has gone exactly as we set out on day one – other than Bruno Guimaraes.”
From the outside, it was a window defined by uncertainty. Players left, targets went elsewhere, Howe departed and Wilson spent much of the summer under scrutiny. Inside the club, however, the argument is that much of that change was deliberate.
Newcastle wanted to refresh the squad. They wanted younger players. They had prepared for a managerial succession. They were willing to sell some of their biggest assets to fund the rebuild.
Guimaraes was supposed to be part of Newcastle 2.0. Instead, his departure forced another major change to a project already undergoing a significant reset.
“We're happy where we're at, but we're not patting ourselves on the back,” Wilson concluded.
“But we have to move forward bravely and strongly with our new coach, with our new players and with the players that were here before.