Liverpool, Man Utd expose Newcastle transfer ineptitude as Mbeumo tops target failure ranking

Newcastle United are having a stinker of a summer. It’s been an all-time horror show: missing out on top target after top target, and being informed by their best player that he wants to leave.

The club’s Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund era has brought more success than any other in most of our lifetime, and the Magpies are preparing for a second Champions League campaign in three years, but everyone is rather miserable in the North East. Well, in the part a little further up than Sunderland.

They’ve missed out on quite a few transfer targets in the PIF era, but this has been an unprecedented window. How many genuine transfer targets — not players like Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, who were linked when the takeover first happened — can Newcastle honestly say were ‘the one(s) who got away’? Here is our top 10 missed transfer targets for the Geordies, starting with the tenth-biggest to their biggest regret.

10) Matheus Cunha (joined Manchester United)

Just how serious Newcastle were about signing Cunha is unclear, but there was certainly interest. For Cunha, it was always going to be Manchester United.

Regardless, the Magpies should’ve tried a little bit harder, surely. The Brazilian had a release clause in his Wolves contract and that £62.5m fee was what he’d be leaving Molineux for. Newcastle knew the terms, but they, as per usual, weren’t decisive or ruthless enough and allowed Cunha to join a direct rival.

9) Liam Delap (joined Chelsea)

Getting Delap through the door early on in the summer transfer window might’ve changed the entire landscape of Newcastle’s off-season. The former Ipswich Town striker would’ve provided competition that Alexander Isak would’ve welcomed, but the plan was not for Delap to usurp Eddie Howe’s star striker — it was for them to play together.

Delap was one of the Magpies’ first targets of the summer, with almost every top-flight club interested, but Chelsea moved most decisively and confirmed his signing way back on June 4. Newcastle could never.

8) Marc Guehi (stayed at Crystal Palace)

Assuming Newcastle are still in for Guehi — which reports suggest they are — then this is hardly disaster territory. Yet the club’s shambolic pursuit of the Crystal Palace defender holds some weight.

Newcastle put in lots of groundwork to sign Guehi last summer, but they were nowhere near purposeful enough. They messed about with their bids, and as they increased, Palace’s willingness to sell decreased. An offer that would have been accepted in July was rejected by Steve Parish in August. It ended up being a complete waste of time — while being the Magpies’ main focus when other positions might’ve been addressed.

Fast forward a year and Newcastle are ‘back in’ for the England international. Unfortunately for them, Liverpool are also in the picture, which doesn’t bode well. The Magpies appear to be leading the race for Guehi, but this summer tells us that doesn’t really matter. Foot Mercato says Liverpool have ‘insulted’ Palace with their ‘two offers’ for Guehi, though the reliability of that report is up for debate.

Most of these deals ultimately came down to Newcastle not being the player’s first choice, but this pursuit is one that heavily exposes the club’s inept transfer team.

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7) Benjamin Sesko (joining Manchester United)

This is a huge blow for Newcastle, but there is a certain upside to Sesko picking Old Trafford over St James’ Park. That is, if you’re a Newcastle fan or member of staff who’s happy to reintegrate wantaway Liverpool target Alexander Isak.

Where do Newcastle go from here? Having failed to attract the RB Leipzig striker thanks to the Big Six juice, we have no idea if there’s a sufficient striker target out there, even to come close to filling the void left by Isak. Sesko was quickly identified as the club’s number-one target to replace the Swede, but all their interest did was kick Manchester United up the arse. It’s going to be Ollie Watkins, isn’t it? Which is fine — but Sesko is a player for the next decade, whereas Watkins turns 30 in December. Still, he will guarantee goals for the next two or three seasons, maybe more.

So, no Sesko also could mean no Isak to Liverpool. But the Reds are close to selling Darwin Nunez to Al-Hilal, which could result in an improved bid after the Magpies rejected £110million. If the champions offer £150m guaranteed, Newcastle will surely accept — even without a replacement lined up. They can’t go into their Premier League opener at Aston Villa with William Osula as their only recognised first-team striker. Yet, they probably will.

Somehow, this summer can get even worse for the Toon Army.

6) Dean Huijsen (joined Real Madrid)

Signing a centre-back was a big priority for Newcastle going into the 2025 summer transfer window. We’re now in August and the only position of priority they’ve improved is right-wing, signing Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest for £55m. Other than Elanga, they’ve signed Antonito Cordero (free), Seung-soo Park (undisclosed), and Aaron Ramsdale (loan).

There’s some sympathy for Newcastle, because, after all, they lost out on Huijsen to actual Real Madrid. Yet, there was a big opportunity here. The Spaniard had a release clause, which makes transfers significantly less complicated to complete — especially when the selling club’s stance is so clear.

Now Newcastle are left scrambling for Guehi late on in a second successive summer window. Liverpool…do your thing.

5) Michael Olise (joined Bayern Munich)

Olise has turned out to be a missed opportunity for several teams, but that’s hardly a shock. He was terrific for Crystal Palace in the Premier League, and every top club wanted him. Bayern swooping in caught many people by surprise, and what a signing he’s been for the Bavarians.

The French international is the only player here who Newcastle wanted last summer but who moved elsewhere. And there’s nothing more to it than them missing out on a world-class talent. The Magpies did pretty well last season, to be fair to them. Not that it’s set them up for a positive summer.

4) Joao Pedro (joined Chelsea)

Was this the final straw for Isak? The straw that broke the camel’s back? Considering Pedro plays in the same position as him, we doubt it. But you can’t rule it out. The Brazilian would have been an ambitious signing and Newcastle were desperate to bring him in — but again, their haggling cost them. With negotiations ongoing with Brighton, Chelsea swooped in and hijacked the transfer. If there’s one thing the Blues don’t do, it’s mess around with signing transfer targets.

Newcastle were given a taste of what they’ve missed out on in this summer’s Club World Cup. Pedro was allowed to play despite joining mid-tournament, and he made an instant impact to help Chelsea win the entire thing.

Pedro to Newcastle for £30m received the Romano ‘Here we go’ in August 2022, but then it collapsed. He became a Brighton player 11 months later, and then Newcastle reignited their interest this summer. The Magpies pushed for weeks and had approaches knocked back by their fellow bird-nicknamed friends on the south coast. And then, decisive as ever, he was a Chelsea player.

Looking at all of the clubs these Newcastle targets joined in the end explains that it’s a club size and project issue holding them back, but they don’t help themselves. Sometimes you have to be bloody ruthless, and if that means paying over the odds, so f***ing be it.

3) James Trafford (joined Manchester City)

The goalkeeper position was one of priority going into the summer transfer window, but in some of the worst dilly-dallying in Premier League transfer history, Newcastle’s top target joined a club that showed a shambolic recruitment team how it’s done. Missing out on Trafford might not be as detrimental as Sesko, Delap and Cunha, but the manner of their pursuit pushes him up a few places.

Newcastle’s interest in Trafford goes back to last summer, shortly after he was relegated as Burnley’s first-choice goalkeeper. It was an incredibly difficult season for the young shot-stopper and Newcastle fans were miffed by the club’s reported interest. A year on, more fans were all-in on the signing after Trafford kept a ridiculous 29 clean sheets in the Championship, helping the Clarets gain promotion back to Our League.

There was some messing about last year, but it went to a whole new level this summer. On June 8, 2024, Fabrizio Romano tweeted that Trafford was Newcastle’s current priority for the goalkeeper position. Personal terms were agreed a day later, yet Romano’s next X post was eight months later. “Newcastle agreed personal terms with James Trafford since summer 2024 and the verbal pact is still valid. He’s still top of the list as new GK for Newcastle next season.” Negotiations were back under way in June. They were supposedly ‘closing in’ on the deal, as Newcastle planned to get it over the line ‘very soon’. Again, nothing for over two weeks, until… “Manchester City considering move for James Trafford to return to the club this summer…” One week later, Trafford to City got the “Here we go” treatment, with Newcastle’s thumb stuck firmly up their arse.

A genuine disaster from start to finish, this one. There was so much legwork put in for nothing.

2) Hugo Ekitike (joined Liverpool)

Interest in Ekitike came at a time when optimism remained throughout the Toon Army. Sure, the summer wasn’t exactly going to plan, but Isak didn’t want to leave — or at least hadn’t told the club that yet — and there was time to sign some good players.

The plan was for Ekitike to play with Isak, which is a frightening proposition — so frightening that Liverpool want a piece of that action.

Before nabbing Ekitike and then bidding for Isak, Richard Hughes put his big ol’ balls on the table and told Newcastle he wanted the latter — and if that wasn’t realistic, they’d go ahead and sign their top target, Ekitike. They did exactly that in ruthless fashion. The Magpies were then back in for Yoane Wissa, but it all became very messy when Isak asked to join Liverpool, to play with Ekitike after all. It was a worst-case scenario for Newcastle.

Had Liverpool not been the thorn in Newcastle’s side that they’ve been this summer, the landscape of this entire window would look very different. Sesko, Isak and Ekitike, among others, would be in completely different positions. This Newcastle disaster might’ve had the biggest ramifications — but there’s one player the club’s supporters wish they’d signed even more.

1) Bryan Mbeumo (joined Manchester United)

There are some pretty big ramifications from this one, too. Not only did Newcastle fail to sign a top target, but Mbeumo’s eventual move to Old Trafford has massively stifled their attempts to land Wissa from Brentford.

As underlined by the signing of Elanga, Newcastle really, really wanted to sign a right-winger this off-season, despite an awesome season from Jacob Murphy. There weren’t many better options – if any – out there than Mbeumo, off the back of a 20-goal Premier League campaign for Brentford.

Mbeumo is a leading Premier League winger and it was clear he was available, but Newcastle couldn’t convince him to pick them and Champions League football over the 15th-best team in the division. Unfortunately, those guys will always have the draw, and their appeal has been part of a big humbling process for Newcastle and Eddie Howe.

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