In every summer transfer window there are choices to be made between improving your starting XI or adding depth to the squad. It is the second option that Newcastle United decided to pursue as they prepare to return to the Champions League after an absence of more than 20 years.
With the spending power of the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund curtailed by financial fair play rules and the tougher restrictions on sponsorship deals with companies linked to club owners, Newcastle had to compromise.
With the tantalising prospect of European football to navigate, as well as the challenge of trying to maintain their place in the top six domestically, director of football Dan Ashworth and manager Eddie Howe agreed it was more important to improve the squad than the first team.
It was a difficult choice, but it made sense in both the short and long term. Although their most expensive signing, the Italy international Sandro Tonali, has gone straight into the side and has impressed, the other signings, winger Harvey Barnes, left-back Lewis Hall and right-back Tino Livramento, have started the season on the bench.
All are young players with their best years ahead of them, who should benefit enormously from Howe’s coaching skills, but only Tonali clearly raises the standard of the first team immediately.
The problem with signing high-quality, elite players is the cost and in spending an initial £56 million on Tonali, Newcastle blew a large chunk of their budget on their most pressing need in the centre of midfield.
Barnes was signed as a replacement for Allan Saint-Maximin, who left for Saudi Arabia. They are different players and it remains to be seen how much Newcastle miss Saint-Maximin. He was their maverick, a player impossible to predict, but who caused panic in opposition defences and was usually double marked as a result.
Barnes’s statistics in terms of goals and assists were superior to the Frenchman’s, but he is a player who fits into a system rather than sprinkling stardust. Will Newcastle become easier to play against without Saint-Maximin’s sporadic moments of magic?
In signing two exciting young full-backs in Livramento, 20, and Hall, 18, Newcastle could have England’s best right and left-back moving forward, but they are young and raw and will need time to develop and mature.
They were bought with an eye on the long, rather than the short, term and there is a strong argument to be made this was the sensible approach. Newcastle want to build a team who can grow together and bring sustainable success to the club, not just merely add players for the here and now. But it could lead to some growing pains, chiefly an inability to maintain the superb form they showed when finishing fourth last season.
All their recent signings have been aged 25 or under, with Alexander Isak, 23 - who should be even better in his second season then he was in his first - and Anthony Gordon, 22, the most recent before this window. Tonali, although an established Italy international, is also just 23.
The sacrifice that had to be made spreading their money more thinly to buy young players with potential is that Newcastle have left themselves short at centre-back.
Newcastle had made the signing of a right-sided centre-half one of their priorities in May, but as the window unfolded, they had to play the hand they were dealt. Tonali’s signing was deemed more important and the availability of Livramento and then Hall meant there was not the money left for a top-quality centre-back.
Should either Sven Botman or Fabian Schar suffer a long-term injury, Newcastle would have to play either Dan Burn, Jamaal Lascelles or Paul Dummett in the middle of defence for a prolonged period of time,
It is the glaring weakness in their otherwise impressive squad building because the bench looks so much stronger this season than it did 12 months ago. The rise of academy graduates Elliot Anderson and Lewis Miley has also helped in that respect.
Newcastle knew they did not have enough strength in the squad to cope with competing on four fronts and have done well with the business they have done.
Howe has more options in midfield and defence than at any stage since he got the job in November 2021, but he was not able to do everything he wanted. Their strongest side looks remarkably similar now to the one that ended last season. Most of their rivals for a top-six finish appear to have done more to improve their starting XI and already had greater resources in terms of their squad options.
