How Newcastle United’s Transfer Window Turned From Bruising to Brilliant: Lille Secret Trip, Amar Dedič Pursuit and James Trafford Decision Explained

Insiders likened it to tearing off a sticking plaster. Newcastle United’s decision to sell Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon may now look logical, but there was a stage this summer when the club appeared to be haemorrhaging talent.

June 17 offered an early warning. Club doctor Paul Catterson had travelled to the United States to conduct the medical for Spain winger Victor Munoz, a World Cup player Newcastle wanted to sign. Then the messages began to spread: ‘F***ing Liverpool’. The Reds had swooped in and stolen the deal.

By July 13, Newcastle’s summer was looking increasingly battered. Recruitment staff had made repeated trips to North America, while Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi, one of the World Cup’s breakout performers, had been shown the club’s plans for his future. 

Chief executive David Hopkinson even met the 20-year-old’s family. Following the Munoz disappointment, the move appeared to be progressing smoothly. Then it fell apart. Manzambi opted for Aston Villa at the last possible moment.

Both negotiations had unfolded in full view, underlining the need for greater secrecy. Sporting director Ross Wilson therefore travelled to Germany to complete a deal for Hoffenheim winger Bazoumana Toure. He managed to arrive and leave without attracting attention. 

That changed when his flight from Frankfurt to Newcastle was diverted to Paris. A Newcastle supporter spotted Wilson in the departure lounge at Charles de Gaulle and questioned him about a potential signing from France. The explanation worked in Wilson’s favour, providing a brief comic interlude during an otherwise chaotic June.

At the same time, Guimaraes had instructed leading agents to search for a new club. Newcastle had been aware of his intentions for several weeks, but the wider football world only learned of them when Daily Mail Sport reported on June 25 that Arsenal were in talks. 

The previous evening, Eddie Howe had watched from Miami Stadium as his captain represented Brazil. Newcastle wanted to retain Guimaraes, but the midfielder had made clear that he was set on leaving.

The picture was becoming impossible to ignore: Newcastle were losing key players while failing to secure their replacements. Then, just before pre-season began, Howe also departed. He told Wilson he would step down, although he agreed to remain in charge until a successor was appointed. Gordon had already moved to Barcelona, while Tonali was heading for Tottenham.

It was described as a mess, a calamity and even a car crash. Whatever the label, the situation had the feel of another disastrous summer, one capable of matching the turmoil of the previous year that Newcastle were still trying to repair. 

The anxiety did not disappear when Matthias Jaissle was appointed, nor after the final pre-season fixture. New signings Toure and Aladji Bamba, both 20 and costing £72.5m combined, appeared some way short of being ready for Premier League starts. 

The squad and starting XI both had obvious weaknesses. Jaissle spoke of a ‘leadership void’ and made his demand for further reinforcements clear, both privately and in public.

Those concerns were not lost on the people inside St James’ Park. Outsiders began asking whether Newcastle could be relegation candidates, and it was not an entirely unreasonable question. Internally, however, the response was silence, composure and, most importantly, belief in the plan.

A little more than two weeks later, Newcastle are being mentioned among the winners of the transfer window. It helps that Guimaraes began the season injured at Arsenal and that Tonali, although he has played, has barely started for Tottenham.

More significant is the impact made by Newcastle’s new arrivals. They have settled quickly, moving the ball, delivering crosses and creating chances from the outset.

Amar Dedic, the £30m right back signed from Benfica, had already been monitored by Newcastle before Jaissle—who previously worked with him at RB Salzburg—urged the club to make its move. He arrived just five days before the season started. With three assists in two matches and an energetic style suited to both attacking and defensive duties, the Bosnian is already likely to have rival recruitment teams asking how they overlooked him.

Alongside Dedic, £50m midfielder Nico Gonzalez, who joined last week, and £26m goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek were Newcastle’s best players during Saturday’s 2-0 win at Tottenham. Sean Steur, a cultured 18-year-old midfielder from Ajax, looks a steal at £20m. From the darkness of pre-season has come the light of the campaign proper.

There was, before Spurs, a draw against Liverpool from which Newcastle deserved more. There was also the announcement of a new £190m training-ground development. And then Jaissle, a manager who has exuded energy, intelligence and belief, not least in himself.

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Wilson and senior staff knew that the optics had changed – getting Gonzalez out of Manchester City for half of the £100m they received for Tonali felt like a major coup – and so they pushed ahead with one last ambitious move, for a player they had previously thought unattainable.

On Friday morning of last week, Wilson and Hopkinson took the Eurostar to Lille. There, they agreed a deal to sign Matias Fernandez-Pardo for £51m. The framework had been in place for several days.

When Wilson was then pictured walking into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon, supporters online questioned why he was not elsewhere making transfers happen. The answer was in his inside pocket – his passport, freshly stamped from the return journey.

Over the weekend, he and Hopkinson waited nervously for the Ligue 1 side to find a replacement and, just as importantly, for the likes of Liverpool – yes, ‘f****** Liverpool’ – to stay away from the winger. Some of those around the 21-year-old also needed to be persuaded that Tyneside was the best destination for the Belgium international. It all felt very precarious.

Hopkinson remained in London on Sunday, a strategic ploy keeping him closer to northern France than North East England. On Monday morning, amber turned to green. By tea-time, Fernandez-Pardo was on a flight to Newcastle.

His deadline-day signing took the total to eight, at a cost of around £270m, making a net spend of just £25m. The Squad Cost Ratio deficit that resulted in a UEFA fine last season has been addressed, while the removal of Nick Woltemade’s wage, coupled with a £3.5m loan fee from Juventus, has all but covered the SCR cost of Fernandez-Pardo’s transfer fee for the first season.

In short, by playing the long game this summer, Newcastle insist they have left themselves in a much stronger position financially. Hopkinson’s mid-summer declaration of Newcastle 2.0 – post Howe and those departing stars – felt suspiciously like Newcastle 1.5 going into the new season.

But now, with the window closed and the view no longer blurred, the picture is one of positivity and prosperity. They have ridden misfortune and some misadventure, and those two have, on occasion, collided to more fortunate consequence.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 31, pulling out a move from Marseille and Joao Palhinha, also 31, preferring a return to Portugal from Bayern Munich were soon followed by encouragement that a deal for Gonzalez, 24, was possible. Newcastle had dropped a penny and found a pound.

Of all the holding midfielders they sought, insiders believe Gonzalez represents the best outcome. Brighton’s Carlos Baleba briefly became a possibility last month when agents said he was available for around £65m – Jaissle was said to like the player – and Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray were discussed in and around the sale of Tonali. Former Forest midfielder Danilo was offered and considered, but Newcastle wanted better.

The framework of a deal for AC Milan’s Christopher Nkunku, 28, was agreed with the Italian club two weeks ago. Jaissle was aware of him through the Red Bull network – Nkunku scored 70 goals for RB Leipzig over four seasons – but Leipzig is where the forward wanted to return. 

Out wide, Cologne’s Said El Mala was admired and tracked, while Zadok Yohanna, a 19-year-old of AIK, chose Brighton over Newcastle.

In defence, they liked Forest full back Neco Williams but he was not for sale. Giorgio Scalvini, the Atalanta centre back, was always on the list, but Newcastle decided to trust their current quartet in that position. 

Goalkeeper James Trafford was the No 1 target coming into the window, but his insistence that his future was only decided after the World Cup, despite being England’s third-choice keeper, caused frustration. After failed moves for Trafford the previous two summers, Newcastle pivoted to Hornicek, who also had interest from Manchester City.

As for outgoings, a £15m offer from Forest for Jacob Murphy was rejected this week on the insistence of Jaissle. He sees the winger’s value as a senior presence in a young dressing room and, despite the obvious SCR benefits of selling a 31-year-old in the final year of his contract, the manager got his way. 

By this point, the club’s need to appease the balance sheet was far less than the need to appease their new boss on the back of his encouraging start.

The sticking plaster was ripped off for good reason. Supporters and observers spent much of the summer staring at the wound, but the bigger mistake was assuming it would never heal.