Newcastle United face Everton on the final day of the Premier League season in a crucial game at St James’ Park.
Three points on Sunday will guarantee Champions League qualification for Newcastle United and give them a platform to really attack the summer transfer window. A quiet 18 months on the transfer front has ensured Eddie Howe’s squad is in desperate need of refreshing this summer.
A whole host of names have been linked with a move to Tyneside - among those is Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The former Sheffield United man is out of contract at the end of the season and is reportedly admired by the Magpies and could be viewed as a very capable deputy to Alexander Isak.
The Swedish international will play the majority of games next season, but will also need his fair share of rest, particularly with domestic and European football demands to balance next term. Isak’s current deputy, Callum Wilson, is out of contract this summer and his injury record means he simply has not been able to offer regular cover for him over the past two seasons.
Will Osula, who was signed from Sheffield United last summer, has often been deployed out wide by Howe and needs more time to develop before becoming a regular starter. Calvert-Lewin, therefore, seems like a shrewd option for the Magpies to fill that gap and add real Premier League quality to their ranks.
They already know of his quality in-front of goal, Calvert-Lewin has scored more Premier League goals against the Magpies during his career than any other side except for West Ham. His last goal against Newcastle came at St James’ Park last season as he converted a late penalty to earn his side a point.
Newcastle will be desperate to avoid a similar outcome this weekend as they sit just one win away from the Champions League.
Sean Longstaff wanted by Everton
Whilst Calvert-Lewin’s potential appearance on Tyneside this weekend could be regarded as an audition of sorts, Longstaff has been linked with a move in the opposite direction. The Magpies midfielder has seen his position in the pecking order slip in recent months and with just one year left on his current contract, could be allowed to leave St James’ Park this summer.
Longstaff has reportedly piqued the interest of Everton ahead of the summer window and a quirk of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules mean that his sale would benefit Newcastle’s balance sheets a great deal. Any money received for Longstaff would be recorded as pure profit in Newcastle’s calculations towards PSR and would greatly boost their transfer coffers.
Losing one of their academy graduates is far from an ideal situation, but PSR has made clubs like Newcastle United seriously consider the future of those players that rise through their own system and Longstaff, like Elliot Anderson a year ago, finds himself in a precarious position. Everton’s reported interest, meanwhile, comes ahead of a proposed summer rebuild in which they have less financial constraints restricting their transfer activity.
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