Newcastle transfers: The key questions answered about Eddie Howe’s side’s difficult summer

What has gone wrong for Newcastle so far this summer?

What’s been the issue with Newcastle’s recruitment? Will Alexander Isak stay? Is the transfer window still salvageable for Eddie Howe’s side?

From missing out on key targets to rivals to Isak wanting to explore a move away from St James’ Park, Sky Sports News‘ Keith Downie answers the key questions…

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What has been the key problem with Newcastle’s recruitment this season?

There have been several issues the club have had to deal with.

The first of those and the most striking one is the fact they have had to operate without a sporting director.

Paul Mitchell left right at the start of the transfer window, and it has left a gaping chasm at the football club.

Eddie Howe, who has been left to pick up the pieces, said he only found out about Mitchell’s departure when he was on holiday. Mitchell would have done all the negotiating and dealing with other clubs, but that has been left to Howe and his nephew Andy.

Andy Howe is in the recruitment department and is very highly regarded, but negotiating high-end transfers has been something completely new to him this summer. He has been learning on the job. It’s not his fault, he has been thrown in the deep end.

The other problem has been identifying players that other clubs are keen on.

If you look at the players they have targeted, Dean Huijsen chose Real Madrid. Liam Delap and Joao Pedro chose Chelsea.

Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo chose Manchester United, with Benjamin Sesko set to follow them to Old Trafford. The front three at Manchester United next season is set to be three players Newcastle either liked or tried to sign.

Goalkeeper James Trafford went to Manchester City due to a clause in his Burnley contract, and Hugo Ekitike of course was pinched by Liverpool.

Newcastle were close to signing the Frenchman in a club-record deal, only to be pipped at the post by the Anfield side – who then rubbed salt into he wounds by unsettling Alexander Isak to a point where he refused to travel on Newcastle’s pre-season tour.

If you look at the teams they have missed out on players to, it is top-level Champions League teams and Manchester United, who despite having a poor season are still one of the biggest clubs in the world.

It might show that Newcastle’s talent identification is good but due to the fact they can’t match the wages on offer and the stature of a lot of these clubs, those two ingredients together have made life difficult for the club in this window.

Howe was at pains at the end of the season to stress that there’s a small pool of players Newcastle are interested in and that he expected other clubs to be interested in them too. He was expecting competition but not as intense as it has been.

He appealed for the club to act quickly and decisively in the window, but instead they parted company with Mitchell and failed to replace him in a very important summer for Newcastle.

Some will say the Isak situation was avoidable as they knew he was keen on advancing his career months ago, but conversely Liverpool only really came to the table in the last couple of weeks. It is never simple when you are dealing with a Premier League record transfer, so I have sympathy with the club and the manager.

They want to grow, so they need to keep their very best player to do that. They are also in a strong position with Isak having three years left on his contract.

They have also been unlucky with how the Isak situation played out at the same time they were going for Ekitike. Now they could potentially lose both Ekitike and Isak to Liverpool.

I was outside St James’ Park three weeks ago when Newcastle made a £70m bid for Ekitike and I said it would be amazing if they could have both him and Isak in their ranks next season. Now both could be wearing the red of Liverpool come September.

Is there sympathy for Eddie Howe amid the fans – and Howe must surely be frustrated?

There is sympathy towards Howe from the fans about the way Isak has conducted himself in recent weeks.

There is also sympathy that he has been left with so much responsibility on his shoulders, especially when he has not long recovered from a serious illness himself, hospitalised with pneumonia.

At Celtic a few weeks ago he looked exhausted – and that was before the Sesko saga.

It’s been a really difficult and bruising summer for him off the pitch. This was the summer when Newcastle were supposed to strengthen, with money to spend, ahead of another Champions League campaign.

But as we sit here three weeks before the end of the window, they have only signed Anthony Elanga and Aaron Ramsdale on loan. They have also lost players from the squad, the likes of Calum Wilson and Sean Longstaff have moved on to other Premier League sides and are yet to be upgraded.

There’s a great deal of frustration among the fans that they keep getting close to signing new players but then get pipped at the post.

There can’t ever have been a transfer window like this before when a club who have so much to look forward to this season, and just off the back of their first trophy success in 70 years, have missed out on so many targets.

Howe himself is hugely frustrated but he is trying to make the best of the situation.

I think he felt that after the Elanga arrival a couple of weeks ago, several new faces and big-name players would follow, but it hasn’t worked out like that.

However, the positive in all of this, and the supporters need to grasp onto this, is that Newcastle still have a strong team.

Yes, they maybe don’t have a strong enough squad or enough numbers to compete with the schedule that Champions League football brings, but they do still have a strong team. There are good players there at Howe’s disposal, and crucially, there remains money to spend.

So, providing they have targets who remain available, I still expect Newcastle to be active between now and the end of the transfer window.

They still need to bring in a centre-back, a striker and I would suggest another midfielder too.