Jamie Carragher has identified where Newcastle should target for their next marquee signing after their impressive victory over Manchester United.
We’re lucky enough to have some brilliant players all across the park – Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak are all top class – but there’s plenty of room for growth in 2025 after a few tough transfer windows.
After hailing our midfield three, Carragher feels there’s an obvious weakness within our squad, believing the next big signing will come down the right to help us get to that next level.
Speaking on Monday Night Football after the comfortable victory over Man United, Carragher heaped praise on Newcastle’s midfield while echoing the thoughts of the fanbase with regards to a right-winger.
“I think Newcastle’s midfield can go up against any in the Premier League. It’s got a little bit of everything and we saw that in the first half.
“When you speak to Eddie Howe, he still talks about the PSR issue they’ve had. Jacob Murphy has done really well, but you can see they lack someone really special on the right side. I think that will be their next big signing.
“We knew tonight they would be on the front foot and I didn’t think they would take a backward step as why would you? United have been awful, and you just looked at the lack of mobility and athleticism in their team – not just in [Christian] Eriksen and Casemiro. Zirkzee can’t run, he can’t move. I just couldn’t see anything other than Newcastle winning that game.”
Despite Murphy’s brilliant form of late, the former Liverpool defender isn’t exactly making an outrageous claim to suggest we could improve on our right wing – but he is right. It’s the one area of our squad where we lack real quality or depth.
Murphy form can’t change transfer plans
Murphy had seven goal contributions in four Premier League games prior to our trip to Old Trafford, notching up almost double digits for the season as our second highest contributor (one ahead of Anthony Gordon’s eight).
Nevertheless, consistency has been the issue for Murphy and that must be remembered amidst this purple patch. Miguel Almiron too went through a similarly impressive period in late 2022 with seven goals in seven, but his performances have completely dropped off.
That is not to say Murphy will fall to the levels of output of Almiron, who notched just four goal contributions in last season’s Premier League, as he looks to be a better squad option than his Paraguayan counterpart.
Miggy is ‘desperate to leave’ anyway, and with links to PSV’s Johan Bakayoko seeming to grow as we edge towards January, Murphy may rotate into that back-up role quite smoothly.
