Newcastle edge closer to the £50m transfer they desperately need

ST JAMES’ PARK — Over to you, Ross Wilson. Now we have seen what Matthias Jaissle is trying to construct at St James’ Park, the need for new signings before 1 September feels even more acute for Newcastle. After the mayhem of the Premier League‘s opening weekend, Jaissle will feel his young team are capable of making a few pundits look silly for their predictions that the Magpies will struggle. Newcastle believe they have appointed a manager who can be “part of the top 1 per cent” of coaches in the next few years and this first look at his team was encouraging. He is barely had three weeks to get to work but Newcastle were well-drilled and full of energy. The mistake here would be to ignore the rough edges. An encouraging performance was just what the club needed but this felt like a big performance for a big occasion. When autumn and winter draw in, and the less glamorous teams arrive on Tyneside, they will need more experience and substance. Which is why they need at least three arrivals – starting with the midfielder they were maybe missing in the final stages against Liverpool. Lewis Miley impressed in his return from injury (Photo: PA) Winning 2-1 but with limbs starting to tire, Jaissle turned his bench and replaced the inspired Lewis Miley with new signing Aladji Bamba. This was only his 26th game of senior football. You can see where their achilles heel might be as the season unfolds. The good news is that, as of Sunday night, a move for Manchester City’s Nico Gonzalez remains “in play”. Newcastle had been hoping for clarity over a £50m move at the end of the week but the transfer – in the words of one insider – has “plenty of moving parts to it”. Hopefully one has been removed this weekend. He has tumbled far down the pecking order at the Etihad and was left on the bench during City’s 2-1 win against Bournemouth, with Marc Guehi picked in a surprise midfield role instead. Sources there say they want to cash in and Newcastle believe they can sell the move to him. The coherence of their performance against Liverpool suggests he would be joining a team looking up this season rather than down. But will it be enough? They felt the same confidence about Victor Munoz but he ended up at Liverpool and it looked – on the evidence of his late cameo on Sunday – as if they might have missed out on a good one. The good news is there are other options for the role, yet to emerge. And Newcastle, sources insist, have a healthy budget to play with it. So there is no reason why Wilson can’t finish this summer transfer window with a flourish. Ironically, on Sunday there was reason to toast Wilson’s first big move of the close season. Back in May, the club announced a long-term deal for Lewis Miley, fully aware that Sandro Tonali would be departing in the close season. Insiders told The i Paper back then it was “planting a flag” for their intentions over the coming months. They would be investing in youth and potential and they absolutely believed he could step up and fill the void left by Tonali. Read more Transfer latest: Why Newcastle are stalling on Bruno’s replacement – plus two players for sale Special report: Newcastle plot ‘Project £2bn’ with new stadium plan for 2030 With a curtailed pre-season and coming off the back of a long injury, Miley really did look the business against Liverpool. “Something special” was what Jaissle called it after the game and the reaction when he walked off the pitch backed that up. There was a meaty bear hug from the stocky new coach and there’s genuine excitement about what he can become with a run of games. Next week will see him pitted against £100m Tonali at Tottenham. He might well overshine him, but to really capitalise on the feel-good factor, Newcastle need to get their transfer ducks in a row.