Newcastle United have a mixed bag…and that’s probably enough

Newcastle United have spent £85m in the January transfer window, but will this spending be enough to keep them in the Premier League?

As any parent will know, there comes a point on Christmas morning when there’s a lull in the sound of tearing paper, and a moment of quiet falls as you have to survey The Wreckage. What’s wrapping paper and what are actual presents, and which of the presents may go on to become long-time friends and which may find themselves tucked away at the back of a cupboard gathering dust by the time the next festive season comes around.

Well, if transfer deadline day is football’s Christmas day (and football being football, of course it has to have two), then the wrapping paper of rumours and speculation can be discarded and we can take a closer look at what the expectant children – and nervous parents – have got for their money, and nowhere has this excitement been louder than on Tyneside.

Since the Saudi takeover of the club was confirmed in October, January 2022 had been stencilled in as The Month That Will Make Or Break Newcastle United, with somewhat over-optimistic initial aspirations of who they could sign. There can be little doubt that phones started lighting up across Europe when news of the takeover first went through. Agents surely couldn’t believe their luck. A new richest club in town, you say? And they’re desperate?

It looks increasingly unlikely that Newcastle United’s position is desperate. An argument could be made that it should be, but the fact is that the four clubs at the bottom of the Premier League have all been staggeringly poor so far this season, although it should also be added that Norwich City’s recent revival has been enough to lift them out of the bottom three, even