Newcastle United’s transfer policy vindicated amid £170m Liverpool and Chelsea saga

With just over two weeks of the summer transfer window to go, Newcastle have strengthened their squad greatly ahead of their return to the Champions League. Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes have already shown the impact they could have in the team, Tino Livramento comes with great potential at right-back and there are high hopes for Yankuba Minteh’s future once he returns from spending the season on-loan at Feyenoord.

Despite having to navigate Financial Fair Play constraints throughout the window - and losing the services of Allan Saint-Maximin for good measure - the Magpies have gone about their business in serene fashion this summer. They’ve identified their targets and, more often than not, landed their signature with minimal fuss.

Of course, clubs have stood firm and Newcastle have had to negotiate for the best possible deal but, largely, they have come out of negotiations with a deal that suits them. This isn’t something that can be said of their main rivals however.

Chelsea and Liverpool’s recent transfer saga involving Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia have highlighted just how easy it can be for clubs to get bogged down in negotiations and competition with other clubs. This often means at best, prices are driven up if successful or worse, players opt to go elsewhere if unsuccessful.

Both Liverpool and Chelsea have seen this happen in recent times. Newcastle have done very well, so far, at not being impacted by this.

Unlike those two clubs however, the Magpies can ill-afford to be dragged into these situations with FFP restricting their ability in the transfer market a lot more than some of their direct competitors. As co-owner Jamie Reuben told the Business of Sport Podcast earlier this summer, Newcastle can ill-afford to make a wrong move in the market.

“With some of the other clubs, you’ve seen some of the amounts they’ve spent,” Newcastle United’s co-owner said. “Financial Fair Play means we can’t do that just yet so we need to make sure our pound has to go further than a Manchester City, a Chelsea or a Liverpool.”

This message is still very pertinent as the final two weeks of the window come into view, especially considering that the Magpies still want to add to their squad ahead of the deadline. A move for Blues defender Lewis Hall is very appealing and something that would align with their transfer strategy this summer.

However, Chelsea won’t sell the defender on the cheap and, as Eddie Howe recently admitted, Newcastle will have to be ‘creative’ in how they add to their squad between now and September 1. Loans with an option or obligation to buy next summer seem to be the best option in allowing the club to strengthen the squad now and stay within FFP restrictions.

It may be tempting, whilst watching their main rivals spend freely and seemingly without restriction, for the club to go big in the market this summer and kick any FFP issues down the road. However, they have stuck to their guns so far in the market and they haven’t been dragged into expensive transfer sagas.

The club have been vindicated for their approach to transfers so far this summer and have two more weeks to put the icing on the cake of a very good summer transfer window.