​In the thick of World Cup chatter and watching Newcastle players celebrated—flowers for Dan Burn and all—the reality of an open transfer window can be easy to overlook. For a Newcastle fan, though, it’s almost preferable to forget. We sold Anthony Gordon, something many suspected would happen, and then Sandro Tonali, which surprised a few but not most; now we’re left in a limbo state with Bruno Guimaraes, who has reportedly hinted at a desire to move to Arsenal. Pair that with a few bid battles we all assumed were settled—Victor Muñoz to Liverpool, an unpleasantly familiar sting—and now, perhaps, Johan Manzambi to Aston Villa. It reinforces the sense that I can’t allow myself to get excited about rumors until I see a picture of a signing posted on the club’s Instagram page holding a blank sheet of paper.
If we do lose Bruno, we’ll be losing a substantial portion of our senior talent, to put it mildly. What exactly have these players been promised that isn’t coming to fruition? Is it all about money? All the questions this window has raised are the same questions that brewed toward the end of last season. What’s the plan? What’s the ambition?
There was a time when a relegation-threatened Newcastle United could still attract players like Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, and Sven Botman. What has changed? Why can’t we attract or retain key talent any more? Fans are urged to judge the summer in September, but that’s difficult when we are so desperate to see progress at our club and the narrative suggests other clubs can swoop in and pull off deals we supposedly want.
So far, it’s just making me anxious about the next season. Maybe it will be a rebuild year and everything will be fine, but fans are rightly frustrated by the window thus far. For more analysis, you can hear Charlotte Robson on the True Faith Newcastle United Podcast.