Newcastle United chiefs have already started work on the exciting prospect of phase two at St James' Park since taking over last autumn. Eddie Howe and his staff are focusing on the main objective of survival in the Premier League in the last 13 games of the season.
However, head of recruitment Steve Nickson is preparing a handover for incoming technical director Dan Ashworth who is hoping to start work in good time for the new season. Nickson could stay on at St James' but has been tasked in finding a long list of transfer targets for next term.
We're at the time of year when fans are being asked to renew season tickets and the question for many during the awful Mike Ashley era was always: "What exactly is the incentive?" But the incentives are now there for all to see after an exciting January is expected to be followed up by an intriguing summer.
READ MORE - The six areas Dan Ashworth will look to improve
Where once Newcastle under Ashley were forced to give 10,000 season tickets away, now fans are eager to get their hands on one as optimism returns to the club. Some fans are waiting for decisions on new deals after the expiry of existing arrangements but are keen to renew.
Scouting missions in France, Spain, Germany and Italy have been assigned by Nickson to his scouting team while the club also have an eye on trimming the squad down this summer to ensure there is no overload of players. United are eager to agree a compensation package with Ashworth to ensure he gets a reasonable start date after already handing in his resignation to Brighton & Hove Albion last month.
Ashworth will take a look a host of areas of club business including the men’s first team, women’s first team, player recruitment, the Academy, medical and sports science, and the player loan department. But the main task for everybody concerned at Newcastle in the next few months is to make sure that this is the last season which is spent fending off the threat of relegation.
Nickson has already looked at a number of players in each position and that list includes goalkeepers with Newcastle linked with Chelsea stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga in recent weeks. The main area that needs strengthening for United is the club's frontline and that doesn't need to be underlined with Howe presented with threadbare options for the final clutch of games due to the injury of Callum Wilson at the end of last year.
As reported on Chronicle Live in recent times, Atlanta's Duván Zapata is a target while Lille's Jonathan David has also been looked at. The Canada international has bagged 12 goals in 26 Ligue 1 games this season. United's long-term targets Diego Carlos of Sevilla and Sven Botman of Lille have been well documented with even Amanda Staveley admitting the young Dutchman was keen to join despite interest from AC Milan.
One thing is for sure, Newcastle will be looking to hit the ground running when the summer window swings open for business this year. June 9 is the official date for clubs to start doing business but pre-agreed deals for out of contract stars are more likely to be announced on July 1.
With fans already renewing their season tickets without even knowing which players are coming in, it is clear that a repeat of last year's painful summer window won't be repeated. Back then Newcastle spent the summer haggling on Joe Willock's £25million fee and eventually agreed to play for the deal in instalments.
This time around the club are not expected to waste a day as they look to ensure they will be challenging in the upper half of the Premier League table. Although, the task in hand on the field is clear for all to see in the next 13 games.
