What would Overmars bring to Newcastle?
Cameron Smith
- 24 Oct 2021 03:48 CDT
- 5 min read
Newcastle United's new era under Saudi Arabian ownership now has a clean slate.
Steve Bruce has left the club, and a replacement is yet to be appointed.
It's no surprise the Tyneside club aren't rushing into anything just yet because, after all, survival this season is the first objective that needs to be achieved.
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With a huge influx of money from their new owners, Newcastle are expected to spend big in January in order to guarantee their place in the top flight for next season.
Porto's Luis Diaz has already been linked, with several big names have also been floating around as potential targets.
However, the task of building this Newcastle team from the ground up is far harder than it sounds. Sure, the club have now almost unlimited money, but financial fair play does exist, and the likelihood of overspending is fairly high.
So, a clever strategy is needed. Simply signing big names on long contracts may not be the answer as Newcastle realistically won't be able to compete at the sharp end of the Premier League table for a few years' at least. By comparison, it took Manchester City five years after their takeover to win their first league title; it won't happen overnight.
With that being said, bringing in a new director of football would be the best place to start, rather than any players, at least for the time being.
The one name that has been linked with the job is perhaps a surprising one - it's Marc Overmars. The former Arsenal winger is currently the director of football at Ajax, and right now, Newcastle is a huge step down, but reports have suggested he is in talks for the job.
De Telegraaf reported it first, before the likes of The Mirror reiterated the fact that Overmars does indeed want the job.
With Ajax top of the Eredivisie and top of their Champions League group, Overmars' reported desire to leave mid-season is rather strange, but the lure of rebuilding Newcastle could simply be that strong.
Of course, it could be more likely that Overmars joins next summer, rather than in the coming weeks, but only time will tell.
One thing is for sure, however; Overmars could realistically be the man to guide Newcastle into the future with a role as director of football.
What would Overmars bring to Newcastle?
First of all, a director of football is someone who oversees all aspects how the football club is run, but mainly focuses on transfer dealings.
That side of the job is by far the most prominent, and it's also the one in which Overmars has experienced so much success.
He has repeatedly been praised for Ajax's work in the transfer market, and along with help from head coach Erik ten Hag, the club have managed to rebuild the squad time and time again despite the most talented players being picked off one-by-one by bigger clubs across Europe.
Newcastle's ambition could lead them to mistakes in the transfer market, but with Overmars that's unlikely to happen. If the board are serious in a long-term project, which is far more realistic than short-term success, than the Ajax man is the ideal candidate.
Overmars specialises in finding niche young talent who have all been able to develop at Ajax. Think the tricky Brazilian winger Antony or defensive stalwart Lisandro Martinez. However, he has also been able to excellently sniff out bargains. Dusan Tadic wasn't wanted by Southampton, and after signing him for just an initial €11.4 million, the Serbian has been unplayable at times, as seen against Real Madrid in Ajax's famous Champions League run.
Sebastian Haller is yet another example, and Overmars would bring an ability to find bargains to Newcastle.
He is also able to find replacements extremely well. Out went Matthijs de Ligt, in came the aforementioned Martinez; he has adapted to unfortunate circumstances in the best way, and at Newcastle, that's most certainly needed.
The Magpies are in desperate need of a squad overhaul, and with Overmars' South American transfer dealings, he would be able to find young talent for a good price, who would be able to vastly improve this current side.
Furthermore, reports have suggested that he is keen on bringing Erik ten Hag with him, and if that is the case then Newcastle would be getting one of the best managers in world football, one capable of leading them back into European football and beyond.
In addition, Overmars' Ajax ties may help even further, with some of the club's best talent potentially open to joining their current head coach and director of football in England.
To conclude, Overmars would be a terrific appointment, and a major coup for a club in need of a clear plan for the future.
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