How Newcastle United’s monster new £402m starting line-up could look if late window deals are completed

Eddie Howe will hope Newcastle United’s return to competitive football on the pitch can restore some positivity around the club after a chastening summer off it, while the Magpies are hoping for a final push in the transfer market before the window closes.

Newcastle fans have discovered the accuracy of the ‘money can’t buy happiness’ idiom in brutal fashion this summer as the Magpies have not only missed out on almost all of their top targets but had their best and most value player’s head turned by Liverpool, their tormentors-in-chief.

Preventing overt interest from their rivals in Tino Livramento, Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes was perhaps the biggest positive for Howe and they’re among the players who will form the core of Newcastle’s strongest starting XI for the biggest games both domestically and in Newcastle’s return to the Champions League.

And interestingly, given the Magpies’ PSR gripes this summer, none of these players were at St James’ Park before the Saudi Arabian takeover

How Newcastle’s goalkeeper and defence could look after Deadline Day

Aaron Ramsdale (loan), Tino Livramento (£40m), Malick Thiaw (£34.3m), Dan Burn (£13m), Lewis Hall (£35m)

Lewis Hall and Livramento’s sensational breakthroughs last season saw both players earn their first England caps and they’re now undoubtedly one of the strengths of this team. They’ll hope to kick on this campaign with the 2026 World Cup looming large on the horizon, though the cover behind them isn’t too deep.

The same can’t be said at centre-back though with AC Milan’s German international Malick Thiaw joining an already strong group at the position. Fabian Schar’s long-term successor at the position, that changing of the guard could come sooner than many fans think while Dan Burn, Sven Botman and club Jamal Lascelles are a superb core to anchor the spine of the team.

And Aaron Ramsdale is one of the more intriguing signings of the season. Infamously a serial relegatee, Ramsdale has earned good reviews whenever he’s been involved in a doomed side but was replaced in his spell with an established side and has never looked like breaking Jordan Pickford’s stranglehold on the England number one shirt.

While it’s not nailed-on and a series of Ramsdale clangers would see vociferous calls for Nick Pope’s return, he is probably an overall upgrade between the sticks. Pope remains a superb shot-stopper and before Pep Guardiola revolutionised goalkeeping he’d have been one of the best keepers in the world, but now he’s a man out of time.

Newcastle’s slick potential new midfield

Bruno Guimaraes (£39.8m), Sandro Tonali (£60m), Jacob Ramsey (£40m)

The arrival of Jacob Ramsey gives Howe a serious conundrum. Newcastle don’t spend £40m on benchwarmers even under the current regime and given their difficulty in getting signings over the line this summer it’d be ironic if 33% of their current paid arrivals don’t even make the starting side.

The vast majority of Ramsey’s gametime last season came on the left flank, but the 24-year-old has actually made 59% of his career appearances centrally and it appears he’s been sign principally to provide competition for Joelinton first, and provide versatile cover across the forward line second.

It seems sacrilege to break up the trio that was such a force of nature last season but Ramsey has a higher ceiling than the Brazilian and should compliment Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali well.

Obviously with the Magpies fighting across all fronts, Joelinton will have plenty of opportunities to win his place back in an open competition too.

Stick or twist at striker?

Anthony Elanga (£55m), Yoane Wissa (£40m), Anthony Gordon (£45m)

With Alexander Isak burning all his bridges on Tyneside, Yoane Wissa could finally end Newcastle’s summer-long hunt for a striker after rejections from Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko. He’s certainly not the perfect option - that probably would’ve been Delap - but with Ollie Watkins not budging, Wissa’s Premier League pedigree is a better choice than a less proven striker like Nicolas Jackson.

Even if the DR Congo international can only sustain his current level for a season or two, that should be enough for Newcastle to have more success chasing a long-term successor to Isak. Flanked by two Anthonys, Gordon will hope he can rediscover is 2023/24 form after a slight dropoff last season while Elanga showed flashes of a world-class winger but is yet to put everything together into the full package.

His six goals and 11 assists last season were another step in his development but aged 23, Newcastle splurge a potential £55m on the Swede to repeat that kind of return. The good news is he has all the tools to kick on and Eddie Howe is among the best in the business for nurturing talent.