· March 19 2025, 13:30
**We're at the business end of the season now with the first trophy of the season having been claimed. I believe it was some little insignificant club from the Northeast that picked it up, some club called NEWCASTLE UNITED! But I could be wrong, I've not heard much about it.**
The League Cup champions now have to build upon their success after putting to bed a 56-year trophy curse. Of course, grabbing a place in the Champions League is still a huge objective for the Magpies so Eddie Howe can't afford to let his players coast to the finish line.
Once the season is wrapped up, it's time for Paul Mitchell to show us what he can do. So far the new sporting director has kept his powder dry in the transfer market, but this summer is set to be a huge test of his talents.
Newcastle need to recruit for several positions and now _have_ to bolster the squad with European football already bagged for next season regardless of the league finish.
Franciso Trincao is on Paul Mitchell's radar
Newcastle have a new right winger in their sights
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The right wing is, of course, a massive priority for Newcastle, with just Jacob "Assisted A Winning Goal At Wembley" Murphy being our only recognised player for that position.
Newcastle has plenty of names already on their wishlist for that position, but in a new report in the [iPaper](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle-two-transfer-targets-cup-final-hero-new-deal-3592102), Newcastle is now eyeing Sporting CP's Francisco Trincao, who is having a stunning season in Portugal, having nabbed nine goals and 15 assists this season, so far.
Tincao has already had one go at the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 2021/22 season where he scored three goals and grabbed one assist.
Newcastle have kicked up their summer preparations another gear
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The news of Newcastle's interest in Trincao comes as part of a report that suggests that preparations for the summer transfer window have 'intensified' following the visit of Yasir Al-Rumayyan earlier this month.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan has reportedly given the green light to spend big this summer after the club has had to balance the books in terms of PSR for the past few windows.
There's a feeling that it may be a case of quantity over quality this summer to bolster the squad with more signings in the £15m-£20 million range rather than £40m-£50m, but who knows. This club is pretty good at springing surprises.