Newcastle MUST beat Burnley or their January plans are bust
Martin Macdonald
- Updated: 4 Dec 2021 11:41 GMT
- 4 min read
In October of 2021 Newcastle United were sold to a Saudi Arabian-led consortium, with the club consequently becoming one of the richest clubs in the world.
The fans of Newcastle, long critics of previous owner Mike Ashley, started to dream of superstar signings and a return to prominence.
Those fantastical dreams of the likes of Kylian Mbappe joining have proved severely wide of the mark so far, though, as first the club needs to just retain their position in the Premier League before even thinking about superstar signings.
When the announcement was name, dozens of names were linked with Newcastle, but the list of players who will want to actually join the club is shrinking by the week as the Magpies continue to flirt with relegation.
TRENDING
On Saturday, they will have the most important game of their season so far when they face fellow strugglers Burnley at home.
Newcastle have not won a match in the league this season after 14 attempts and are rock bottom of the table, having accumulated just seven points.
Burnley are two positions ahead on 10 points.
Should Newcastle lose against Burnley, they will drift to six points away from safety.
That is the kind of situation that these big-money player targets will be keen to avoid, even if Newcastle throw money at them.
With ever step backwards the club takes on the pitch, they are that further away from realising their dream of becoming an elite side.
Who have Newcastle been linked with?
There have been nonsense links to the likes of Mbappe, but in more grounded stories the player they have been most frequently linked with is Manchester United attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard.
The England international has found minutes hard to come by at Old Trafford despite a positive loan spell at West Ham for the last six months of last season.
He will become a free agent in the summer, but Newcastle will attempt to bring him in for a nominal fee in January to aid their relegation battle.
Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey has been tipped to make a return to the Premier League with Newcastle.
He would command exorbitant wages, but the club are able to afford high salaries now so that deal is a possibility.
In the immediate aftermath of the Saudi takeover, FootballTransfers collated the names who became linked with the club.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Raheem Sterling (Man City)
John Stones (Man City)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Dele Alli (Tottenham)
Paul Pogba (Man Utd)
Jesse Lingard (Man Utd)
Anthony Martial (Man Utd)
Donny van de Beek (Man Utd)
Eric Bailly (Man Utd)
Dean Henderson (Man Utd)
Timo Werner (Chelsea)
Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea)
Ross Barkley (Chelsea)
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)
Conor Gallacher (Chelsea)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool)
Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal)
Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
Wesley Fofana (Leicester)
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Declan Rice (West Ham)
Kalvin Phillips (Leeds)
James Tarkowski (Burnley)
Max Aarons (Norwich)
LA LIGA
Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona)
Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Clement Lenglet (Barcelona)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad)
Nabil Fekir (Real Betis)
SERIE A
Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Adrien Rabiot (Juventus)
Aaron Ramsey (Juventus)
Weston McKennie (Juventus)
Alessandro Bastoni (Inter)
Stefan de Vrij (Inter)
Marcelo Brozovic (Inter)
Alexis Sanchez (Inter)
Franck Kessie (AC Milan)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)
Robin Gosens (Atalanta)
Joakim Maehle (Atalanta)
LIGUE 1
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Keylor Navas (PSG)
Mauro Icardi (PSG)
Georginio Wijnaldum (PSG)
Boubacar Kamara (Marseille)
BUNDESLIGA
Erling Haaland (Dortmund)
Jude Bellingham (Dortmund)
Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich)
REST OF WORLD
Mesut Ozil (Fenerbahce)
Alfredo Morelos (Rangers)
Glen Kamara (Rangers)
Read more about: Premier League, Newcastle Utd.
