Newcastle sign £50m Al-Hilal midfielder and £40m ‘dynamo’ in wild January transfer window prediction

So far this season Newcastle have learned that replacing a striker who scored 44 goals in the last two Premier League seasons for you is quite hard, only recording one top flight win from their opening five games and sitting 13th.

Aside from drubbing Bradford in the League Cup, Eddie Howe’s second Champions League campaign got off to a much more inauspicious start than 24 months ago as the Magpies fell to Barcelona, and reinforcements in January could be a critical to ensure the Saudi project on Tyneside continues on an upward trajectory.

Frustratingly, Newcastle saved their best performance for their best opponent so far, pushing Liverpool all the way despite playing over 45 minutes with 10 men but that’s contrasted starkly with lacklustre displays at Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Leeds

Despite receiving a British record transfer fee for Alexander Isak, Newcastle’s net spend is still in the red thanks to all of their summer signings costing above £30m and three of them over £50m, so they don’t have endless reserves to spend on upgrading their squad in January and we asked Grok to predict the upcoming transfer window…

Magpies lean on Saudi influence to capture Ruben Neves

Ruben Neves - £50 million from Al-Hilal - Of all the players wasting away on bumper contracts in Saudi Arabia, Ruben Neves feels like by the far the biggest loss to the wider game.

After starring for Porto and Wolves, Neves could’ve picked almost any club in the world to play for aged 26 and be in his third season as a Champions League regular by now. Instead, he’s already in Al-Hilal’s top 50 all-time appearances and showed this summer at the UEFA Nations League finals and the Club World Cup that he’s good enough to be competing for trophies more high-profile than the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup.

While Newcastle’s vaunted midfield trio of Bruno Guimares, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton is undoubtedly the core of the team and central to everything Howe’s side do well, those three players alone aren’t enough for a season fighting on four fronts and Neves would provide plenty of tactical intrigue as well as another body in the rotation.

Jean-Philippe Mateta - £35m from Crystal Palace - After chasing a big-name striker all summer, Newcastle could end up with three by the end of the season if this prediction comes true. Nick Woltemade made an immediate impact at St. James’ Park but there’s no guarantee he can keep that performance level while Yoane Wissa is yet to make his debut in black and white.

Mateta only turned 28 in June and still has plenty of Premier League goals left in him and Newcastle could use that pedigree and talent having scored as many goals against Bradford as in their entire six-game season up to this week.

Davide Frattesi - £40m from Inter Milan - Another midfield reinforcement, Frattesi doesn’t possess the same toughness in the tackle as Neves but he is just as capable or more of dictating a game when his team is on the front foot as a crucial dynamo for the Nerazzuri. Aged 26, Frattesi is also a big game player - he famously scored in extra time to put Inter through to the Champions League final at Barcelona’s expense and would add more fascination into Howe’s midfield options.

Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento listed as shock Newcastle departures

Sandro Tonali - £50m to Juventus - This could be Grok’s wildest call yet - apart from the time it compared itself to a certain former German Chancellor.

Tonali did attract interest from the Manchester clubs ahead of the summer transfer window but with his contract expiring in 2028 but he’s shining for Newcastle right now Juventus could well finish behind the Magpies in the Champions League table - this is a prediction you’d expect from Rory Jennings rather than an AI model that cost $490m (or three Isaks) to develop.

Kieran Trippier - £8m to Al-Ittihad - Newcastle’s owners could really do them a solid by packaging Trippier for Neves in a straight swap deal, no cash involved.

Given the Magpies are apparently lower down the PIF’s priority list than a Neom SC, a club that was in the Saudi second tier as recently as April and represents a city that doesn’t even exist, that doesn’t seem too likely but Trippier’s days on Tyneside certainly seem numbered.

Tino Livramento - £30m to Tottenham - Grok’s had another stinker here given Newcastle apparently value the England star at almost nine figures, but he’d be a fantastic fit at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as already one of the best full-backs in the Premier League. The chances of this actually happening feel almost negligible, as like Tonali, Livramento’s contract runs until 2028.

AI-predicted 2026 Newcastle starting XI: Grok sticks with Eddie Howe’s 4-3-3 with its much-changed starting lineup: Pope; Krafth, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Guimares, Neves, Joelinton; Elanga, Woltemade, Gordon.