Newcastle’s Frustrating January

Transfer windows are always frustrating for Newcastle fans, as the club builds up hope before ultimately failing to deliver. In the age of social media, fans know more or less what is happening at their club all the time and the lack of movement in transfer windows does grate on fans. Transfer deals are long and complicated processes with owners, players, agents and managers all trying to get the best deal for themselves, so it’s understandable that deals get dragged out, but fans want players in from day one, which is not usually plausible.

Alan Pardew usually tries to dampen expectation when talking in a transfer window and normally suggests that keeping the Newcastle squad together would be a success, which ultimately shows the lack of ambition at the club. The addition of Joe Kinnear to the transfer process hasn’t helped the club sign anybody with only Loic Remy joining on loan since he took the job as director of football. Local media expect Luuk de Jong to join in the coming days on loan with a view to a permanent deal. The Dutchman is popular with chief scout Graham Carr who rates him highly and thinks the striker would be perfect for the Premier League. He came close to joining eighteen-months ago, but it now looks like the move will happen. He will add some much needed assistance for Remy if he does join the club as expected as Shola Ameobi and Papiss Cisse have failed to share the goalscoring burden with the Frenchman. Fans will be concerned that it is another loan deal, as Kinnear looks incapable of securing his first permanent signing. The heat will be on him in the summer to turn these loans into permanents.

Newcastle’s movements in the next seven days will be dictated by the future of Yohan Cabaye who has been linked with Manchester United and PSG. It would take a big offer to tempt the club into selling, as the club value him upwards of €20m, but an offer like that could be forthcoming, especially as both clubs mentioned are desperate for a central midfielder. If Cabaye is sold this month, they will have to act quickly to secure a replacement, but the club are believed to have plans in place if their talisman does leave St James’ Park this month.

The main target to replace Cabaye is Remy Cabella of Montpellier. The Montpellier chairman came out this week and said that the midfielder would be moving to Newcastle in the summer as a deal had been agreed between the two clubs, but that has since been denied by both clubs. The general view remains that Cabella is likely to move to St James’ Park in the summer from media both sides of the channel. He is a tricky dribbler who can operate as a number ten or on the wing and he would represent a great signing for Newcastle, but they’ll have to wait until the summer to see if they’re successful in their chase for Cabella.

It will be interesting to watch developments at St James’ Park over the next seven days as things seem to be bubbling under, but the main business will be carried out in the summer. After a year with little being spent, fans will expect a few players to join in the summer, especially if a few depart as expected. Cabaye is expected to leave in the summer, while the are doubts over the long term futures of Fabricio Coloccini, Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa. By September, we will know both the ambition and direction of the club, hopefully for Newcastle fans it’s positive.