Newcastle United know where they stand when it comes to Dan Ashworth's tricky situation with Brighton & Hove Albion after failing to agree on a compensation package with the sidelined Seagulls technical director.
The former FA supremo, however, has plenty of time to get his plans in place ahead of his ambitious St James' Park project and between now and then, Newcastle are in good hands under the guidance of head of recruitment Steve Nickson, Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Jamie Reuben and of course the main backers PIF of Saudi Arabia. After yesterday's Premier League shareholder's meeting it was confirmed that the transfer window swings open for business on June 10 and by that time Nickson and his team hope to be a position to strike early when it comes to incoming business.
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It took Newcastle just a week to sign Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid in the last window and the aim is for a similar deal to be signed and sealed in the opening week or two of the window. Yet the bulk of trading may come later with July 1, the week before pre-season, usually a better time to make judgements.
One thing that will be very different this summer is that fans won't be left waiting for business to go through at a snail's pace like it did so many times during the Mike Ashley era. Eddie Howe - who is part of the club's transfer committee - will want as much of pre-season to work with new players as possible.
Previously Steve Bruce had to wait until mid-August for his one and only senior arrival in Joe Willock from Arsenal but plans are already in place to make new additions. United sources say that Nickson, who is described as "24/7" by some observers has been putting in some monster shifts to get Newcastle into the most advantageous position this summer.
Already, players in every position of been looked at by Nickson and senior scout Mick Tait around Europe while Howe and his backroom team also have a good idea of what is needed and some names, including Jesse Lingard who will soon be up for grabs. Given his contract is up at the end of June he may wait until later in the summer to decide his next move, with AC Milan also on the radar.
Newcastle retain an interest in both Diego Carlos of Sevilla and Sven Botman of Lille but one other centre-back that has been extensively look at is Gleison Bremer of Torino. The Brazilian 25-year-old has a slightly cheaper price tag than the two defenders Newcastle chased in January and after almost 100 appearances in Serie A has the experience to slot straight into Premier League life.
Although, the list of targets is lengthy and Newcastle will have targets ready to move on to if clubs follow the lead of Sevilla and Lille in January when they played hardball for Carlos and Botman. But Newcastle are now ready to move on to the start of the mid-term stage of their project.
The Magpies know that they must reshape the squad and while Howe is playing that aspect down at the moment, while he relies on the current crop to finish the job of survival, there could be up to six or seven departures this summer as well as movement from a clutch of fringe players in the Under-23s. In short, those down the corridors of power are braced for an exciting off season and fans could be in for a long summer of scrolling their phones while in warmer destinations than Tyneside.
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