If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Newcastle’s transfer policy over the last few years, it’s that we value young players with potential and smart buys above all else.
The likes of Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and to an extent Bruno Guimaraes were each signed as ones to watch at bargain prices: they were no-brainers, and they’ve certainly paid off.
Which is why it came as a big surprise to many that the club were linked with a shock move for one of the Premier League’s biggest earners who is now approaching his 30s.
It divided fans at the time, but any signs of this move coming to fruition look to have been completely shot down.
According to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh, any talk of Jack Grealish potentially arriving on Tyneside this summer appear to be wide of the mark.
The Man City winger was linked with a loan switch to St James’ Park after struggling for minutes under Pep Guardiola this season, but Waugh has explained why he won’t be making the move to the North East anytime soon.
He writes: “Despite links to Manchester City’s Jack Grealish, Newcastle are not interested in the 29-year-old.”
“Newcastle have two quality left wingers in Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes, and do not need another, especially on wages beyond even their highest earner.”
With Grealish thought to earn around £300,000 per week for the Cityzens, he would have had to take a significant pay decrease to align with our current squad.
There’s no denying that Jack Grealish has plenty of talent, and would no doubt be a perfect option to come off the bench for us to unlock tricky, stubborn defences that we’ve sometimes struggled to break down.
But Grealish may be the right player at the wrong time, as the left wing is perhaps the one area in our squad we don’t need to look at this window.
Even in the unlikely scenario we sell one of Gordon or Barnes, Howe would no doubt be pushing for a younger replacement who wouldn’t be on wages well beyond our current structure.