Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Leicester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - May 22, 2023 Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe celebrates after qualifying for the Champions League REUTERS/Scott Heppell EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Newcastle United’s season has been peculiar in that the excitement of seeing Champions League football return to St. James’ Park has been somewhat muted by a somewhat disappointing seventh-place result. Despite the fact that results have fallen short of expectations, there are enough good reasons to keep the team feeling like they are making progress.
Even though Tyneside is currently full of optimism, that will likely change if they miss the playoffs by a wide margin the following year. Although they may have been unlucky with injuries recently, this shouldn’t hide the fact that some personnel changes will undoubtedly be required. There have been performance problems that haven’t been related to fitness issues.
To begin with, this season their defence has been a challenge. This season, one of the tighter defences of 2022–2023 was only able to function at a mid-table level; they gave up 62 goals at a pace nearly identical to that of the possession game, which is more than twice as many goals and chances as Arsenal managed. While it is true that other teams performed better offensively than defensively—Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, for example—defense still makes a significant difference between Newcastle and the elite teams.
They have given up a lot of opportunities on counterattacks and in transition, which is partly to be expected when you press so hard but also a sign that opposing teams are beginning to understand Howe’s tactics. The fact that Nick Pope has missed a major portion of the season hasn’t helped either; they began giving up more goals as soon as Martin Dźbravka entered the game, mostly because the Slovakian isn’t very comfortable outside of his area and wasn’t as good as Pope at stopping direct attacks.
However, Aaron Ramsdale might be headed in and Pope is returning, so that issue will be resolved eventually. It’s a different story at left-back. Despite being the starter for the majority of the season, Dan Burn has shown to be a liability in a system that is susceptible to fast counters because he is simply too slow.
For this reason, it’s strange that Newcastle hasn’t been strongly associated with many left-backs recently. Oleksandr Zinchenko, the out-of-favour Arsenal midfielder, is a name that frequently comes up, yet despite being a great player in many ways, he may also have trouble handling straight plays over the top. Lloyd Kelly could be useful in this situation.
With good reason, Newcastle is reportedly among the teams vying for the signature of the Bournemouth defender, who is available this summer on a free transfer. While he may not be the most technically proficient defender Newcastle could buy, he would help balance the back line and address several of Burn’s weaknesses.
He averages four clearances a game, which is a huge number, and that too on a club that plays with an aggressive high line. He is a respectably speedy player with good game reading skills. Put another way, Kelly is aware of what to do if the ball ends up behind him. That might have a significant impact.
Although he has played on the left frequently, his primary position is center-half. Should Newcastle win the race to sign him, he may spend the most of his time on the left. He might not be an eye-catching addition or even come at a price, but he might really make an impact by filling a void.
Newcastle has not had any difficulty scoring goals going forward; only Manchester City and Arsenal have scored more goals this season, and only City and Liverpool have produced a higher xG. However, there has just been one problem, and that is with the front three’s right side.
Although Miguel Almirón is incredibly well-liked among Newcastle supporters, his output has decreased. Out of his 33 league games, he only scored three goals and provided one assist; in contrast, backup Jacob Murphy scored ten goals in total. The Paraguayan starts to appear like a weak link in the chain as Newcastle looks to step up once more.
A number of offensive right-wingers have been linked to Newcastle, but none are as effective as Raphinha, the former Leeds United winger who played in 28 La Liga games this season—just 17 of which were starts—scoring six goals and dishing out nine assists. He is still quite dangerous up front, but it appears likely.
This is also a player who scored 17 goals in two Premier League seasons at Elland Road — in other words, he’s a proven goal threat who gives at least as many assists as the men Newcastle already have up top. Having him in the squad might make a world of difference and add the goals and chances needed to bridge the gap up to the very top sides.
According to reports, he could cost as much as €80 million (£68.4 million), although that is probably the top limit. Even at that price, he does enough damage to make the gamble worthwhile. On paper, he would be a wonderful fit because he is still only 27 years old and likely has several good years ahead in him.
Although Newcastle isn’t far from being a consistent contender for the top four, they still have some concerns that need to be resolved before they can truly compete with the best teams in the country. Raphinha and Kelly might help them with a lot of their remaining problems.
