CRAIG HOPE: Newcastle failed to follow Kevin Keegan’s ‘buy better’ mantra and the minimal impact of the four summer signings has left Eddie Howe with a hole in his squad

• Newcastle’s transfer business has left a hole in Eddie Howe’s strongest XI
• Midfielder Sandro Tonali had been displaced by Sean Longstaff before his ban
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off! 

Even with foresight questions were asked over the nature of Newcastle’s summer transfer business. It is starting to feel now like they have invested in crypto currency – it could pay tomorrow, but for today there is a hole in both the accounts and Eddie Howe’s strongest XI.

By way of illustration, Howe shared a stage with Kevin Keegan last week. The former manager repeated the mantra by which he always worked – ‘buy better’. He referenced Andy Cole and David Ginola, players he believed were an upgrade on those who had done very well for him.

Newcastle, going into this season, did not buy better. At £52million from AC Milan, Sandro Tonali was supposed to be. But even before his 10-month ban for illegal betting, the Italy international had been displaced by Sean Longstaff, the midfielder he was meant to replace. The narrative had shifted to him needing time to adapt, which is fair.

But ahead of a campaign that would include Champions League football for the first time in 20 years, Newcastle needed players for this season, not next. 

Newcastle’s questionable summer transfer business has left Eddie Howe short of options

Sandro Tonali had been displaced by Sean Longstaff before his ban for illegal betting

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That is why the wisdom of committing in excess of £60m on young defenders Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall was queried when the window closed. That is not to doubt the quality of the player – they could be England’s starting full-backs when Euro 2028 comes around. That, though, does not, and has not, helped Howe this season. On Saturday, with his team stretched because of injuries during a 2-2 draw at Wolves, they were unused substitutes.

Livramento is a right back of enormous potential, but Newcastle’s best player is Kieran Trippier, a right back. Succession plans and rainy-day thinking are all well and good – but right now matches and injuries are falling from the sky and Newcastle are getting soaked. Sven Botman is the latest casualty ahead of Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie at Manchester United. The defender has a knee issue and there is no return date.

Then there is £38m Harvey Barnes, sidelined with a foot injury until Christmas. That can happen, of course. Barnes is a very good player and the absence is unfortunate, that could not have been forecast. But to revisit Keegan, is he better than Anthony Gordon? On the evidence of the early months of the season – and this is before his injury – Barnes was behind his younger team-mate in the pecking order.

Indeed, of a possible 56 starts across all competitions, the quartet of signings have made only 12. Their impact has, so far at least, been minimal. The boys from last season continue to do the heavy lifting, and surely that was never the club’s intention when drawing up their summer plans.

There is also the question of buying what they really needed with regards position, a subject discussed further in recent days with striker Alexander Isak out until after November’s international break, as revealed by Mail Sport last week. That leaves Callum Wilson as the only recognised frontman, and he is only just returning from a groin layoff. Gordon looks set to start through the middle at Old Trafford.

‘That was one of the reasons for signing Anthony, who can play as a centre-forward, which he did for England at the Euros and did a great job,’ said Howe. 

’There are others – Harvey (Barnes) can play up there, although we don’t have him at the moment. Joelinton was also signed as a centre-forward, although we’ve moved his position.’

Kevin Keegan believed in buying players who were an upgrade on ones who had done well him

Keegan followed his mantra by signing players such as Andy Cole and David Ginola (above)

Did Howe and the hierarchy consider the effects of losing one of Isak or Wilson?

‘The trouble is, you’re sort of alluding to signing a third striker,’ he said. 

‘We just didn’t have the resources to do that. You can only go with the information you have at the time. As much as you can have a crystal ball and try to predict what will happen, that is part of our job as well, you only have a certain amount of resources and you have to make the decisions you’re faced with at the time.’

But Howe’s mention of limited resource – at least within the confines of Financial Fair Play – speaks to the point observers and supporters have made, and that is of signings that felt out of sync with the immediacy of their needs. If money is tight, you don’t buy crypto currency.

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