Here are your top Newcastle United headlines for July 3.
Tonali's first words
Sandro Tonali has spoken for the first time as a Newcastle United player after completing his move from AC Milan.
The defensive midfielder's move has been finalised with Tonali coming in for what Newcastle have described as an "undisclosed fee". The player is set to join in pre-season in good time for the new campaign with players due back later this week.
A delighted Tonali said: "First of all, I want to thank Newcastle United because they are giving me a huge opportunity for my career.
"I want to repay the trust on the pitch, giving it my all, as I always have. I'm really excited about playing at St James Park, I can't wait to feel the warmth of the fans."
You can read the full story here.
Six potential exits
Newcastle United are still set for a busy summer as Eddie Howe looks to enhance his squad for the 2023/24 season.
Howe has already hinted that there will be departures but with Newcastle restricted with their transfer business due to Financial Fair Play rules, it feels inevitable that there will be a few players departing for pastures new. Here's our look at who might leave in the next few weeks.
You can read the full story here.
Minteh excitement
Newcastle United are 'excited' about Yankuba Minteh and hope the summer signing will play for the club once he has a 'bit more development'.
That is according to Peter Ramage, Newcastle's assistant loans manager, who will be keeping a close eye on Minteh's progress at Feyenoord this season. Minteh has immediately been loaned out to the Eredivisie champions after joining the Magpies from Odense Boldklub (OB) last month.
Newcastle certainly did their homework on the highly-rated winger. Agent Bakary Bojang previously told ChronicleLive that Newcastle scouted Minteh 'a lot' and carried out 'good research' on his client, who was 'never in doubt that it was the place for him'.
You can read the full story here.
RB Leipzig on Szoboszlai sale
Newcastle United are believed to have opted against signing Dominik Szoboszlai to focus on other targets after Liverpool were the only club to activate his £60million release clause.
The 22-year-old midfielder was presented as a Liverpool player on Sunday but like the James Maddison transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle had by then shifted focus on other potential deals. RB Leipzig supremo Max Eberl has spoken about the process of Szoboszlai's exit from the Bundesliga club.
Eberl said: "In the case of Dominik Szoboszlai, our hands were tied due to the release clause in his contract, meaning we had to let him go. "We will, however, find strong alternatives and other options following this departure, not least with the additions we have already made in the attacking area.
"Of course, we would have liked to go into the new season and coming years with Dominik. "He has decided, however, to make the move to England and Liverpool, a top team in Europe.
"This is another testament to us as a club and the work that has been done here to take young players to the next level."
You can read the full story here.
Klopp jibe revisited
"There's no ceiling for Newcastle. Congratulations. Some other clubs have ceilings."
Since Jurgen Klopp uttered those words, Liverpool have signed Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai at a cost of around £135m. Clearly, it is not just Newcastle who can do major business in the transfer market.
The point Klopp missed at the time was how Dan Ashworth was speaking about there being 'no ceiling' to Newcastle's ambitions rather than the club's spending power. In fact, in the same set of interviews last October, the sporting director warned that Newcastle's outlay in the transfer market was 'unsustainable' because of Financial Fair Play restrictions.
It may seem rich to say this when Newcastle have just announced the signing of Sandro Tonali, who cost around £55m, but FFP is still affecting what the Magpies can and cannot do - even after finishing in the top four. Newcastle simply can't behave like the so-called 'richest club in the world'. Not yet, anyway.
Howe has said, himself, that Newcastle are not 'huge payers of wages in the Premier League so the big clubs will all dwarf us' and that makes it 'hard to attract the very best players on the market'. James Maddison, for instance, will earn more at Spurs than he would have at Newcastle because of the club's wage structure. Newcastle could have offered Szoboszlai an increase on his terms at RB Leipzig, but Liverpool are also in a different league when it comes to salaries. Liverpool's most recent set of accounts confirmed only Manchester United had a higher wage bill in 2021-22.
Yet those accounts also revealed the secret behind Liverpool's FFP operation: club-record revenues of £594m. To put that figure into context, it is more than three times the amount Newcastle generated in the same period (£180m).
You can read the full comment here.
Gordon on striker role
Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon is relishing his new position as a central striker as the goals continue to flow during England's Under-21 European Championship campaign. The Magpies attacker has been used through the middle by U21 boss Lee Carsley in the tournament so far and has repaid the decision with two goals and an assist in four games.
Gordon scored the only goal of the game on Sunday as England progressed to the semi-final with a win over Portugal. Newcastle fans are now speculating as to whether Eddie Howe will use 22-year-old in a similar role when club football returns later this summer.
Gordon is certainly enjoying his new role and the experience that comes with it and believes it may even be his best position. “It’s very different,” said the Newcastle star.
You can read the full story here.
