Newcastle United have signed two young midfielders in Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba who have the potential to grow into superstars – but let’s not put too much pressure on their shoulders from the offset.
That might be difficult, should Newcastle fail to add another midfielder to the ranks as all-powerful captain Bruno Guimaraes closes in on a £75m move to Premier League champions Arsenal.
Sandro Tonali has already been sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £100m this summer, so it should go without saying that more is needed.
It’s not just the midfield that’s been stripped, though. Newcastle have lost an unconscionable amount of leadership over the past few months, and that needs addressing, with captain Kieran Trippier among those to have departed.
Why Newcastle need to replace Trippier’s leadership
Trippier was the first to strengthen a Newcastle side who would go on to achieve greatness. The right-back joined from Atletico Madrid, where he won La Liga and hardened his defensive resolve under Diego Simeone.
He arrived in January 2022, then he won the 2022/23 Player of the Year on Tyneside. A consumnate captain and first-class playmaker, Trippier was instrumental in Newcastle’s success under Eddie Howe, and he left for Wolves aged 35 this summer.
Replacing the right-back might not have been Newcastle’s first port of call this summer, but he will be sorely missed at the start of the Jaissle era, a leader and modern legend.
His influence might have waned over the past two terms, but the former England international needs replacing all the same, especially with Guimaraes and Tonali both gone.
|
Trippier in the Prem for Newcastle |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Apps |
Goals + assists |
|
25/26 |
21 |
0 + 1 |
|
24/25 |
25 |
0 + 3 |
|
23/24 |
28 |
1 + 10 |
|
22/23 |
38 |
1 + 7 |
|
21/22 |
6 |
2 + 0 |
Perhaps the Toon can kill two birds with one stone by completing a Trippier-esque signing – but in the centre of the park.
Newcastle exploring move for experienced midfielder
Newcastle have been naive across recent windows, but they are not incompetent. Technical director Ross Wilson and new manager Matthias Jaissle want to sign an experienced midfielder to balance things out in the middle of the St. James’ Park field.
According to the Daily Mail’s ever-reliable Craig Hope, Newcastle are considering a formal move to sign Marseille midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, very much feeding into that emphasis on bringing experience and leadership to St. James’ Park.
Signing Hojbjerg this summer would carry within it the echo of that instrumental deal for Trippier that propped Howe’s tenure up from the get-go, setting a tone and fast beat that led the Magpies into two Champions League campaigns and indeed Wembley, twice, with the second effort securing the Carabao Cup title.
Jaissle, at the start of his chapter on Tyneside, would land a tempo-setter and midfield leader in Hojbjerg, whose data from the recent season in France was said to be “similar to that of Rodri” by analyst Bradley Robson.
Clearly, Hojbjerg is not cut from the same cloth as the generational Spain superstar, but in terms of his playing profile, he could replace Guimaraes and bring a wealth of experience and a deep knowledge of the Premier League.
The 31-year-old started 30 times in Ligue 1 for Marseille last season. He thrived, completing 90% of his passes while winning 4.1 duels and recovering five balls on average each game. That doesn’t even tell the full tale of the tape. The eye test would inform you of Hojbjerg’s influence and intelligence when on the ball – and with 82.1 touches per outing, he was very much Roberto De Zerbi’s centrepiece.
Jaissle employs similarly aggressive tactics to De Zerbi, and it does say something that Hojbjerg was coveted within the latter’s system, even though he’s not a maestro of a midfielder. Sometimes, you need such a profile to balance things out.
Hojbjerg might not be the flashiest signing Newcastle would welcome through the gates, but sometimes, a pragmatic move can go a long way, and Hojbjerg could thread together a number of parts and raise the ceiling for more exciting up-and-comers such as Steur and Bamba.
In the view of one-time Denmark and Derby County midfielder Morten Bisgaard, he’s simply a “monster“.
Trippier proved a crucial signing for Howe’s Newcastle. Now, Jaissle could strike gold in similar circumstances by landing Danish midfielder Hojbjerg, who could be the glue which keeps it all together for a tenuous Toon side over the coming campaign.
