You can excuse any Newcastle United fan for wanting to avoid a summer transfer window even remotely close to what we went through last year.
With the exception of Malick Thiaw and Nick Woltemade’s arrivals, it was a tough period, with the sale of Alexander Isak at the very end after weeks of disruption and speculation being the icing on the cake of what was, with the benefit of hindsight, a horrible window.
By contrast, the winter transfer window was dull, yet peaceful and uneventful, at least until the final day. Now, there’s fresh speculation that Sandro Tonali could be bound for Arsenal or even Real Madrid in the near future.
And amidst the rampant speculation over Tonali’s future, club legend Alan Shearer has called upon Eddie Howe and the lads to show they still mean business and do what it can to convince Tonali, if his head has indeed been turned, to stay.
Alan Shearer fears Newcastle United could lose Sandro Tonali this summer if they do not secure European football for the 2026/26 season.
Speaking to Betfair, Shearer acknowledges the very real danger our current form puts us in. With qualifying for next season’s Champions League now looking like a big ask, he worries our elite talents could have their heads turned.
> _“Sandro Tonali hasn’t hit the heights he was at last season, but I guess what’ll happen is, if Newcastle aren’t going to qualify for Europe or be competitive in the Premier League, you’d expect other clubs will look at Newcastle and try to buy their best players._
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> _“Although it was a surprise in the January window, I think it’ll happen more in the summer if Newcastle don’t achieve what they have in the past few years.”_
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> _“Top players want to play Champions League football, and we know there’s no real loyalty in football – I’m not saying Tonali will do anything like that, but we know if clubs don’t get into European places, other clubs will try and pick players up._
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> _“Newcastle have to start winning games and go far in the FA Cup and hopefully the Champions League to try and rescue what, at the minute, certainly Premier League wise, has been a disappointing return._
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> _“I know we got to a semi-final and all those years ago we’d craved for that but then the money that’s been spent and put into the club and where the club wants to go to, at the minute it’s been disappointing.”_
We saw with the Isak saga this past summer that as well as we have performed in the last few seasons, qualifying for the Champions League twice and winning the Carabao Cup, unfortunately there’s still an allure to play for one of the ‘Big Six’ and push for titles.
Where Tonali is nailed down to a contract until 2030, another one of our key players in Tino Livramento is of course in a very different situation.
Publicly linked with a move to Manchester City, who are always in need (and ready to spend lavishly) of top defenders, talks have unfortunately stalled in contract negotiations.
He’ll be another player we face the prospect of losing should we fail to win a trophy or qualify for the Champions League this season. This all despite a situation similar to Tonali’s gambling ban, the club has stood by Livramento throughout his persistent injury woes.
It’s important to remain optimistic, and appreciate we still have devoted stars like Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Hall on the books, but the he upcoming summer will be an interesting one if things go any further awry in the league and our hopes of making the top five begin to dwindle even further.