£21m Palmeiras midfielder and top defender sign: Newcastle United's new line-up if rumours are true - opinion

Newcastle United may have qualified for the Champions League for the second time in three years, but those in charge at St. James’ Park know that the squad needs to be improved if they are to become a true fixture in the Premier League’s top four – and this summer’s transfer business will have a big impact on whether or not Newcastle can realise that ambition.

The club are closing in on the signing of Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga for a reported fee of £52m, solving a problem that they had on the right wing, but there will be more signings to come – so we’ve decided to try and figure out what Eddie Howe’s starting XI could look like when the transfer window closes at the start of September.

We expect reinforcements in goal, in defence and in midfield, but will Newcastle’s transfer budget stretch far enough for them to sign another big-money forward? And will they have the depth and firepower to make the top four, or even challenge for the title?

£65m of new faces across Newcastle’s back line

GK: James Trafford (£35m*), LB: Lewis Hall (£35m), CB: Sven Botman (£35m), CB: Leonardo Balerdi (£30m*), RB: Valentino Livramento (£32m)

A few recent reports have suggested that negotiations over Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford are stalling out with a gap of up to £10m between the two teams’ valuation of the player – but with Nick Pope the subject of interest from Leeds United, we suspect that a deal will get done eventually, with a ballpark figure of £35m.

We also expect a centre-back to be signed, although the odds of it being first-choice target Marc Guéhi look vanishingly thin, with Liverpool likely to get that deal done soon. A few alternatives have been suggested, but as it stands we think Newcastle are unlikely to bid for injury-prone Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini. Instead, Leandro Balerdi looks like the best bet for now.

The Marseille defender, who is the kind of ball-playing centre-half who would be comfortable in Howe’s high-line system, seems to be available for around £30m – cheaper than Scalvini is likely to be and perhaps more reliable given how much time the youngster has missed. We think that Manchester City’s alleged interest in Tino Livramento will come to nothing due to the enormous price tag.

Another South American star could be added to midfield

CM: Bruno Guimarães (£40m), Sandro Tonali (£55m), Richard Ríos (£21m*)

They love a South American in Newcastle, and we wonder if the links between the Magpies and Palmeiras’ Colombian midfielder Richard Ríos will prove to be true. Certainly, he seems like the kind of player that Howe would admire.

A box-to-box player who usually operates on the right of a midfield three, Ríos is direct, skillful and more than capable of carrying the ball from one end of the pitch to the other at pace – perfect for Newcastle’s counter-attacking, high-pressing brand of football.

A lot of teams have been linked with Ríos over the past year or two, and it may be that the latest reports are no more reliable than any of the others we’ve seen, but the midfielder will be on the move soon and seems like a natural fit for Tyneside. Whether it’s Ríos or someone else, we expect a new midfielder to come in at some stage.

Newcastle United miss out on £40m winger in our prediction

LW: Anthony Gordon (£45m), RW: Anthony Elanga (£52m*), CF: Alexander Isak (£63m)

Newcastle have been keen on Elanga for some time and having missed out last summer, we firmly expect negotiations to end with a more positive result this time around – a price has been agreed upon, and it’s just a matter of persuading Elanga to make the move up to St. James’ Park. That should be a formality.

Throw in the three other transfers we’ve suggested, of course, and that would bring the total transfer spend up to over £130m – quite a lot for a club who are always keen to point out that the PSR restrictions mean they can’t spend as much as they’d like. In short, while we think they’ll get the key deals done including Elanga, we don’t see the club making any splashy luxury purchases this time around.

That’s why we aren’t predicting them to make a rumoured bid for Jack Grealish, who is meant to be available for around £40m. A knock-down price if he can be coaxed back to his best form, but not essential when the club have Anthony Gordon around. The free signing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin as a back-up to Alexander Isak seems more realistic.

In total, we’ve got them going into battle with a team worth just a shade under £450m next season – but will it be enough to help them achieve their ambitions? And will they get all the players they need over the line before the big kick-off in August?