Newcastle United sold key players over the course of the summer transfer window and there is a strong argument to suggest the club have not adequately replaced any of them.

The headline departures over a summer of change were Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon. While it would be foolish to suggest Newcastle were ever going to replace them in terms of ready-made quality and experience, the profile of the players they did sign for a combined total of £300m hardly made much sense.  

Anthony Gordon was sold and his replacement could take years to shine

The England international left Newcastle for Barcelona, and the Magpies initially tried to sign Victor Munoz as Gordon’s replacement. As ever, Liverpool had other ideas and quickly wrapped up a deal to sign the winger, leaving Newcastle to turn to other options. Enter, Bazoumana Toure.

Toure is Gordon’s direct replacement at Newcastle and while that is not in itself an issue in terms of favoured position, no one seems to quite understand how ready the Ivorian is to actually play.

Head coach Matthias Jaissle was still Al-Ahli manager when Toure arrived at the club, so the blame can hardly be laid at his door. Jaissle has barely turned to the former Hoffenheim winger – signed for a not inexpensive sum of £42million – because he does not feel Toure has adapted physically to the demands of the Premier League.

Gordon scored 17 goals for Newcastle last season and his replacement isn’t even deemed ready to at least try and chip away at that number on a consistent basis.

Sandro Tonali wasn’t directly replaced by Newcastle

Sandro Tonali endured a mixed-to-poor final season at Newcastle but there’s little doubt the Italian had a profound impact on the team when things were going well. The club banked close to £100m for the midfielder and while that must be seen as good business, it’s not if it leaves a huge void.

It is not a case of the Newcastle owners not reinvesting. They did sign Sean Steur only three days after Tonali’s exit but to suggest the Dutchman – talented as he may be – was ever going to step into the now-Tottenham midfielder’s shoes was laughable given his total lack of experience.

They differ hugely in profiles, too. Tonali was an industrious force in midfield, while Steur is more of a ball-player. The former Ajax youngster may be a fine Newcastle United player in the weeks and months to come but a Tonali replacement he is not.

Replacing Bruno Guimaraes was an impossible task

Some degree of sympathy has to go to the club here. The influence that Guimaraes had on Newcastle was always going to be hard to replace, both in terms of what he brought on the pitch and the level of leadership he provided.

Guimaraes was an all-action midfielder, one of the best in Newcastle’s history. No one is saying it’d be easy to go out and sign a player to replicate that. Still, the player they did go for in Nico Gonzalez is almost the polar opposite in terms of playing style.

Gonzalez, like Steur, might prove to be an excellent player but there is nothing in his career that suggests he will be able to contribute towards the goals, assists and line-breaking passes Guimaraes was able to provide.

It’s clear that Newcastle United have a problem in the transfer market

None of the three players listed above are inherently bad signings. They may all prove to be excellent additions but the fact it follows the disastrous summer 2025 transfer window is significant.

Newcastle tried and failed to replace Alexander Isak by signing Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa. One of them is now on loan at Juventus and fans almost certainly wish the other was too.

So little about Newcastle’s talent identification since the first few years of the PIF era inspires any confidence.