Go on then...Rate the January 2026 Transfer Window

[stozo]

54 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Agreed, though that depends if we give a shite about a fine or not.  Points deductions, transfer embargos and competition bans I can understand wanting to avoid. 

Sadly I think we do as the way it works is we’ll get a small fine this time (a few million) but a massive suspended fine (probably £20m+). That basically means we have to start complying from next year with UEFA SCR or find a way to account a profit or extra revenue that mitigates the impact or taking the larger suspended fine. 

[TheBrownBottle]

3 minutes ago, stozo said:

Sadly I think we do as the way it works is we’ll get a small fine this time (a few million) but a massive suspended fine (probably £20m+). That basically means we have to start complying from next year with UEFA SCR or find a way to account a profit or extra revenue that mitigates the impact or taking the larger suspended fine. 

With the new PL SCR rules - and a likely failure to qualify for Europe - we’ll have to start doing that anyway 

[TRon]

2 hours ago, La Parka said:

Eddie's tactics seem to hinge on functioning fullbacks that are dynamic and excellent on the ball. 

 

I do think he's been hung out to dry by the recruitment team in that regard if he's been asking for backup there. 

 

 

 

 

What makes you think he's been asking for back up there though? From his actual words it seems he himself didn't want to bring in players who might upset the balance of his squad, unless they were long term targets. 

[Holloway]

What's Tripps going to look like by the time he hobbles off the plane in Baku or wherever it is ?

[Displayname]

3 hours ago, stozo said:

There are three alternative options we could have pursued in January

 

1. Buy a player we really want at an inflated price, likely meaning one fewer signing in the summer.

2. Loan a player, likely sign one fewer player in the summer and not even own that player next season.

3. Sign someone for less who isn’t really good enough long term but can fill a short term gap on a five year deal and hope we can resolve the problem by selling them in 1-2 years. And again also sign one fewer player in the summer. 
 

All three of those are poor options. It is not neglect to decide not to do one of them. 
 

People blather on about Villa doing this or that - they are going to miss the CL for the second season running (look at the table - their advantage over Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool has collapsed over the past month). That is directly because they fucked themselves by overspending in their CL season and making short term decisions which have hampered them. 

What is that logic that if we sign a player on loan, we would likely sign one less player in the summer?

Accounting wise we could even had ended up in green if it lead to higher placement in the league and/or further advancement in CL.

I'd also pay a little over the odds for a backup as that also would have a good chance of evening itself out thanks to higher placement etc.

 

I don't think you guys fully appreciate how poor state our defense is in.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Displayname

[KennyUtd]

1 hour ago, Holloway said:

What's Tripps going to look like by the time he hobbles off the plane in Baku or wherever it is ?

Your Da.

[J7]

1 hour ago, Holloway said:

What's Tripps going to look like by the time he hobbles off the plane in Baku or wherever it is ?

Should have been Murphy at City.

[Holloway]

14 minutes ago, KennyUtd said:

Your Da.

Aye 

[bobbydazzla]

Yer da negotiates transfers at Newcastle 

[Deuce]

Regardless of whether or not they may have come in handy given our current injury crisis, there is something to be said for the fact that we finally shifted the likes of Wilson, Lewis, Hayden, Longstaff, and Lascelles this season. We’ll need a similar approach this coming summer.

[Sean]

6 hours ago, Ben said:

 

‘An extraordinary window’ - David Hopkinson

“Let me tell you, this was an extraordinary transfer window in terms of activity,” the Canadian told talkSPORT. “We have an amazing sporting director in Ross Wilson. He’s been my first call in the morning and last call at night every day this month.

“The activity has been incredibly high. We didn’t find the right opportunity for an acquisition but we had the room to do so.”

🤣

 

Please tell me these aren’t real quotes. 

[The Butcher]

[stozo]

2 hours ago, Displayname said:

What is that logic that if we sign a player on loan, we would likely sign one less player in the summer?

Accounting wise we could even had ended up in green if it lead to higher placement in the league and/or further advancement in CL.

I'd also pay a little over the odds for a backup as that also would have a good chance of evening itself out thanks to higher placement etc.

 

I don't think you guys fully appreciate how poor state our defense is in.

 

 

 

Because any decent loan signing is going to come with a loan fee, which will be booked fully in this year, which will increase the amount we breach UEFA SCR by, which will increase the UEFA SCR breach fine we receive which will fall into next year, reducing the amount we have to spend.
 

I get the point you are making about higher league placement but that cuts right to the crux of the difficult decision the people in charge had to make - it MIGHT do exactly that. Equally Mr. Backup Loan RB could roll his ankle in the first game, have no impact and then you’ve massively fucked the plans for next season for no gain. It’s a gamble and we chose not to gamble. Which is 100% the right call given that the last time we gambled it cost us two of the best young players in Europe. 
 

There is even less case for ‘signing a backup’ in that in the new SCR world being stuck with their wages for five years is problematic. Anyone we sign now needs to either be a XI starter or a young talent we can develop (but who prob won’t be game ready in season 1). 

[Yorkie]

Some great posts from @stozo across the topics.

[Ben]

2 hours ago, Sean said:

🤣

 

Please tell me these aren’t real quotes. 

 

Unfortunately they are

[Displayname]

1 hour ago, stozo said:

Because any decent loan signing is going to come with a loan fee, which will be booked fully in this year, which will increase the amount we breach UEFA SCR by, which will increase the UEFA SCR breach fine we receive which will fall into next year, reducing the amount we have to spend.
 

I get the point you are making about higher league placement but that cuts right to the crux of the difficult decision the people in charge had to make - it MIGHT do exactly that. Equally Mr. Backup Loan RB could roll his ankle in the first game, have no impact and then you’ve massively fucked the plans for next season for no gain. It’s a gamble and we chose not to gamble. Which is 100% the right call given that the last time we gambled it cost us two of the best young players in Europe. 
 

There is even less case for ‘signing a backup’ in that in the new SCR world being stuck with their wages for five years is problematic. Anyone we sign now needs to either be a XI starter or a young talent we can develop (but who prob won’t be game ready in season 1). 

How much more would our fine be if we spend 5m on a loan signing?

 

If what you are saying is true and our fine is so damn sensitive of a few million in outlay, that really makes the summer signings truly shocking.

 

Having a few doubts though..

 

 

Edited February 8 by Displayname

[The College Dropout]

Signing a functional pl level FB for £3-5m loan fee + wages is a bigger risk than having 2 fit fullbacks (1 being 35) during a crazy fixture period? Absolutely not true.  
 

I do not believe that to be true at all.  
 

signing a fullback was the sensible mitigation route for our season. 

[stozo]

1 hour ago, Displayname said:

How much more would our fine be if we spend 5m on a loan signing?

 

If what you are saying is true and our fine is so damn sensitive of a few million in outlay, that really makes the summer signings truly shocking.

 

Having a few doubts though..

 

 

 

Hard to say exactly as the percentage of the theoretical five million we would be fined depends on how much overall we breach SCR by. But it’s already pretty well documented that this season will be a fairly substantial breach, largely because some of our previous transfer business (e.g. Anderson sale, which is viewed by UEFA as a swap not a sale) is not compliant with UEFA rules.

 

I think the easiest way to explain it is there is such a broad spectrum still of revenue outcomes this season that the club very likely think about it as a spectrum risk. There are obviously some outcomes like good CL progress and CL qualification again where we’d be fine, but equally there are outcomes like elimination in the CL Play Off Round and only getting Conference League which would put us probably in dicey territory, and obviously there is a spectrum of outcomes in between those two (and irony of ironies, our financial constraints would probably be less restrictive if we miss Europe). 
 

The simplest way to think about it though is that potentially a loan signing could mean we have £20k-£30k per week less to spend  next season (and I’m being conservative on numbers here - it could be more). Does that sound a massive deal? No. Could it be a massive deal if a top target won’t come because we are short that amount in our wage offer or a Tino (for example) chooses to push for a transfer because our contract offer is short of his expectations by that amount. Yes, that would be a massive deal and problematic. 

[kingxlnc]

I don't know why we didn't push harder for Rayan who actually looks like exactly what we were crying out for. Him at 25m would have allowed us to get rid of Osula or Wissa. Bruno and Joe would have helped him to settle.

 

So frustrating as we were linked and he would have come here over Bournemouth

[Kimbo]

Rayan probably wasn’t even on our radar.

[kingxlnc]

1 hour ago, Kimbo said:

Rayan probably wasn’t even on our radar.

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2026/01/11/newcastle-want-sign-rayan/

Apparently the medical was held up because reports in Brazil suggested a bid from Newcastle was imminent... 

But Howe rubbished it in the end. I thought with Wilson and his links to Brazil this would be more likely to have gone ahead than the previous links we had to youngsters - eg. Andrey Santos etc. 

Sometimes you have to get in front and get them early - that's how we got Sissoko, Cabaye, et al cheap. Whilst others are dragging their feet you get in ahead. 

Bournemouth will double their money at the very minimum.

[sempuki]

Should be in the summer thread. Soz.

 

1. Thiaw. The best of the bunch so far. Has made a few mistakes but overall a good signing. Value will have risen.

2. Ramsay. Looks a decent player to me. Not flashy but quietly effective. Concern about his injury record though.

3. Woltemade. A good start but we don't know how to use him. Slow player that doesn't fit EH's formation.

4. Ramsdale. A few decent moments but has let in several soft goals. Would not sign after loan.

5. Wissa. Very disappointing for the massive outlay. Ineffective and possibly overweight. 

6. Elanga. The poor stats say it all. Poor technique and looks lost most of the time.

 

No controversies there I don't think. Would certainly keep the first 2 for next season but I'd send Ramsdale back and look to get what we can for the other three. Would like to see Big Nick be a success but unfortunately just can't see it.

 

 

Edited March 1 by sempuki

[The College Dropout]

On 11/02/2026 at 10:34, kingxlnc said:

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2026/01/11/newcastle-want-sign-rayan/

Apparently the medical was held up because reports in Brazil suggested a bid from Newcastle was imminent... 

But Howe rubbished it in the end. I thought with Wilson and his links to Brazil this would be more likely to have gone ahead than the previous links we had to youngsters - eg. Andrey Santos etc. 

Sometimes you have to get in front and get them early - that's how we got Sissoko, Cabaye, et al cheap. Whilst others are dragging their feet you get in ahead. 

Bournemouth will double their money at the very minimum.

It’s also how we got Bruno Tonai Isak Hall Livra etc.  

[aussiemag]

How are we feeling about the summer business now?

Ramsdale – 5/10
He still has a clanger in him and doesn’t deal with crosses particularly well. His shot stopping and ability with the ball at his feet are good, but we probably need better if we want to push on.

Thiaw – 7/10
He was elite earlier in the season. A few errors have crept into his game recently, but overall he’s been a class signing.

Ramsey – 6/10
The last month or two he’s been more like an 8/10. If he can stay fit and maintain that level until the end of the season, he’ll end up being a good signing.

Elanga – 4/10
He’s improving, but for the money we paid we need more goals and assists.

Wissa – 1/10
He’s been awful. £55m for a 29-year-old who’s been injured, not fit, and doesn’t look like he’s trying half the time. Really poor signing so far.

Woltemade – 5/10
Scored some wonderful goals when he first arrived, but he doesn’t really suit our style of play. We’d have to change how we play to accommodate him, which isn’t going to happen. In hindsight it looks like a strange signing and his confidence seems shot.

 

[andycap]

Gonna go a 4/10

Couple of good ones thiaw/Ramsey

two strikers which look like panic buys which we don't use. 😂

Elanga looks like he may turn things around but not certain.