Financial expert reveals whether Newcastle United can spend in January
Newcastle United are expected to be active in the upcoming January transfer window.
Football financial expert Stefan Borson believes Newcastle United will have funds to spend next month.
The January transfer window opens in less than a week and gives the Magpies a chance to bolster their ranks midway through the campaign. Toon fans, players and staff will be hoping for less turbulent activity than the summer.
Earlier this year, the Alexander Isak saga dominated the news agenda on Tyneside. Newcastle were turned down by several targets and the window became somewhat of a patch-up job, although Nick Woltemade and Makick Thiaw have proven to be hits.
Newcastle United upcoming window assessed
Despite an estimated £250million outlay, Isak’s sale has given the Magpies headroom to manoeuvre. Monetary guru Borson could make a calculated signing in January for the second half of the season.
“I assume they’re not going to be selling in January, so I think they are likely to look at potential buys in January given the situation that happened late in the window,” he told Football Insider. “I do think they’ve got available cash for the initial payments on these players. But likewise, it would be easy for the Newcastle owners to put more money in as they go forward into January knowing what’s coming in the second half of the season.”
Champions League the key
Borson also claims how far Newcastle go in the Champions League could prove the key to future spending. He added: “You’d think that they probably budgeted for round of 16 maybe in the Champions League if they were being prudent, so I would think there is some possibility of a bit of upside there. Can they get to the quarters? Could they get to the semis?
“Obviously, if they could manage to do that, they’d outperform on the cash side a little bit, just in terms of the prize money that’s coming from UEFA. That might minimise the amount of money that the owners need to put in in the second half of the season. Other than that, I think they’ll know with a good level of clarity as to the money that needs to be put in in the second half of the year, if any.”
Ross Wilson on January transfer window
Speaking to supporters earlier this month, new Toon sporting director Wilson confirmed there is money in the kitty if needed. He said: “The scouting work is always ongoing,” Wilson explained. “So, the guys are doing loads of work with that all the time. Can we spend in January? Yes. If we want to, we can.
“It’s obvious to everybody given the level of club spend in the summer that we’re not going to do that again in the winter window as well, for a variety of reasons. But if we want to spend, we can.
“Of course, we’ll be creative, of course we’ll be opportunistic as well. But probably the most important thing is that it would have to align with what the summer plan looks like, which is the bigger squad plan. All of those conversations are ongoing.
“We’ll have the ones about where Eddie sees the need in the squad, if at all. But for now, the conversations have been, ‘What have we got, what do we think about what we’ve got, where do we see this’, then let’s see how that fits into January and the next part of the conversation.”