The Premier League’s richest club is flexing its muscles again. Newcastle United have a clear aim to take on England’s elite and they will stop at nothing to assemble a team capable of achieving that aim.
The Magpies won’t win the 2022/23 title; you heard it here first!
The pre-campaign Premier League 2022 betting odds here at SBOTOP have priced Newcastle at 91.00 to finish top of the pile, but that puts them in seventh place and Europa League football might be enough to keep the club’s owners happy…for now.
With the signings of defender Sven Botman and keeper Nick Pope already done and dusted head coach Eddie Howe is looking further up the field and he has put in a second bid to bring Leicester City’s James Maddison to St James’ Park.
Newcastle’s opening bid of £40m for the England midfielder was quickly rebuffed by Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers who said that £40m would just about pay for three-quarters of his left leg. Newcastle’s money men may not be good at maths, either that or they don’t believe Rodgers, because they have just tabled a second bid amounting to £50m.
That should buy the whole of Maddison’s left leg…minus the foot!
I suspect the Foxes might take an offer of £60m seriously and it remains to be seen whether or not the player wants to go to Newcastle. Either way, Leicester could do with a transfer kitty and this deal might inch closer over the next few days. The 25-year-old just has two years left on his contract so this may be the time for his club to cash in for the maximum amount. But with keeper Kasper Schmeichel seemingly on his way to Nice, Leicester Rodgers will think very carefully when and whether to accept Newcastle’s offer.
Burnley playing hardball with Cornet suitors
The race to sign Burnley winger Maxwel Cornet is warming up as the newly relegated side have told Everton they would have to pay £25m for their star if they don’t want to stump up the £17.5m release clause up front. The Toffees are still looking for a replacement for Richarlison, who is now a Tottenham player, but they will get no help from Burnley who are still angry at the circumstances of their relegation.
Everton, who survived with a stunning set of late results made a loss of over £100m for the third year running, but their creative accountants wrote off £170m to COVID, compared to around £50m written off at comparable clubs. That write-off helped the Toffees to circumnavigate the financial fair play rules and avoid a points deduction… and the Premier League let them.
The Toffees have already offered the player a five-year contract worth £67,000 a week and they have been encouraged by reports on the player from another ex-Claret, James Tarkowski.
But Burnley, who have just sold another wide man, Dwight McNeil, to Everton for £20m will squeeze every last penny out of the Merseysiders, or sell their man to someone else.
Big spending new boys Nottingham Forest have been trying to cut a deal and, of course, Newcastle United are also in the frame.
With nine goals and one assist in 26 appearances for the Clarets, Cornet was considerably more productive than McNeil last season. Sources at Burnley believe the Ivorian would be happy to stay at Turf Moor for Vincent Kompany’s first season as manager as the Clarets try to bounce back at the first attempt.
But as the overhaul of playing staff at Burnley continues, another £20m + could finance another four or five recruits.
Werner’s Leipzig return
In other Premier League 2022 news, Chelsea seem happy to let Timo Werner move on and the German striker’s return to RB Leipzig might well be on the cards. The Bundesliga club is increasingly confident they can agree to a deal with Chelsea and talks are intensifying. Werner has been at Stamford Bridge for two years but has been a shadow of the player they bought from Leipzig, and he may find life more to his taste back in Germany.
There could be a twist in this tale as reports, emerging from North London yesterday, suggested that Arsenal might be ready to table a shock £30m bid for the Chelsea star. Having already recruited Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City the Gunners could see a potent partnership with Werner perhaps.
But there is plenty of competition for the striker. Aside from Leipzig and Juventus expressing interest, Newcastle, who else, have also put in a request to loan Werner.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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