Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson has warned that the Magpies may have to say goodbye to a big name in order to welcome a major signing - but only on their own terms
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson and CEO David Hopkinson
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson and CEO David Hopkinson
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Newcastle United will be in a position to make a "box office" signing this summer to get their Champions League aspirations back on track - but they may yet have to sell one of their big names to make it happen.
After Newcastle announced record revenue and 44% rise in commercial income during a briefing from their latest set of accounts, CEO David Hopkinson faced a series of questions on recruitment and Eddie Howe's future.
With the Magpies sitting in the bottom half of the table, and facing the prospect of not qualifying for Europe unless they have a strong finish to the season, the likes of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Tino Livramento linked with moves there are concerns within the fanbase over what the shape of the first-team XI and the senior squad will look like in 2026/27.
Newcastle saw Alexander Isak leave the club for £130m last summer after a protracted and damaging transfer saga, and there have been fears of a repeat scenario with one of their current stars in the coming months.
When asked by Chronicle Live if the club are still capable of a "box office" signing, Hopkinson insisted they were in a position to do that, but admitted big-name players may also have to leave to fund more spending.
However, any sales will only be sanctioned in the best interests of the club and on their terms.
"We can do that," he said. "But we might not be able to do that without selling somebody.
"We haven’t got an overall strategy with regards players out, necessarily.
"We think through what players might or might not want to do this summer. But if an Isak-like scenario presents itself again, any player under contract is going to leave on our terms, and we’re going to maximise the opportunity that might represent for the club."
When asked what those terms were, Hopkinson stated that the lowdown, even though he was not on board at the time, was that Isak could only go for the top market price and a record fee.
He said: "To me, Isak was a good sale."
And then when pressed on whether any leavers in summer 2026 will only go for huge fees, Hopkinson insisted: "It absolutely does."
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Newcastle chiefs insisted they were not a selling club but more so a trading club. Hopkinson said: "Going forward, our strategy is to buy well and sell well. Buying well does not necessarily mean spending the most money. It means working in the market place for the players that generate the most value for this club rather than the fee paid for them.
"So there are a multitude of strikes we need to employ, including developing our own, looking for opportunities in the marketplace and making sure we are maximising our opportunity within the available price we can produce.”
The reality is that for Newcastle and head coach Eddie Howe, the campaign could still go in two or three different directions. If Newcastle can avoid an end-of-season drop-off and pick up their results, they could scrape into either the Europa League or Europa Conference League - with both competitions of interest to the club's powers that be, despite the paltry prize money on offer compared to the Champions League.
With that in mind, Hopkinson admitted that the club are exploring a number of different scenarios when it comes to their summer transfer plan.
The Canadian said: "First off, we've got seven matches to go and we don't know what regulatory regime we are going to be operating. If the season ended today, we'd be outside European competition, although that is not our ambition.
"What I can tell you is that Ross Wilson, Simon Capper, Eddie and I, everybody who is attached, is working through what our strategy is this summer in either scenario.
"We are not prepared to comment on how we might be operating on signings right now, other than we all agree we need to be prepared for either scenario, deeply and extensively now, as opposed to waiting to see which scenario we are in."
We then asked Hopkinson how many plans were in place, he said: "We have two directions of planning. Two scenarios with a multitude of strategies that follow either scenario."
There has been plenty of talk about the prospect of re-signing Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest. Any exit for Tonali or Bruno would potentially open up the door to Anderson returning.
However, when it was put to Hopkinson that Man City or Man United could offer double the wages his old club could, Hopkinson said: "I can't comment on what Man City are going to do or not do. We are looking at what we can do."
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