Tonali has been linked with Manchester United, Arsenal and other teams. According to the latest news from The Daily Telegraph, even if Tonali leaves, Newcastle has clear transfer targets. Isak's transfer saga left a deep lesson for the team.
Newcastle is working to build a new squad for Eddie Howe. The new team will be younger, with relatively less experience in major competitions, and the value of new signings will not immediately become apparent. The club has developed a long-term plan, aiming to achieve the vision of consistently challenging for championships and regularly qualifying for European competitions by 2030. This approach carries some risks but has become the team's main development direction.
Selling players is also an important part of the new transfer strategy. Previously, the team sold Gordon to Barcelona for £75 million, and the entire process moved quickly. Now, Newcastle will not forcibly retain players who are determined to leave.
Insiders told The Telegraph: "Player transfers are normal in football, and we don't need to panic about it. Not all players rumored to be transferring will leave, but it's inevitable that some will choose to leave; that's the business of football. Every club sells players, and as long as the terms of the deal are favorable to us, we will do the same."
Last summer's Isak transfer saga left a deep lesson for the team. At the time, the player went on strike and demanded to leave, but the club insisted on not selling him for several months, eventually rushing to sell him to Liverpool for a record £128 million in English football before the summer transfer window closed.
Management now believes that there were two better options at the time: either sell him early in the transfer window to allow ample time to find a replacement, or simply not sell him at all.
Fans also need to be mentally prepared that key players are likely to leave the team. Tonali may also leave before the start of the new season. His asking price of around £100 million would deter many potential buyers, but the club has long anticipated this internally, rather than simply resisting.
The agent of the Italian international has already proactively contacted several clubs in England and Europe to find a new club for his client.
Fortunately, Newcastle has long prepared for player replacements, and even if Tonali leaves, the team has clear transfer targets. Of course, this does not mean that the player will definitely be sold.
The team believes that Nottingham Forest's valuation of Elliot Anderson will become the reference standard for Tonali's transfer, as Newcastle evaluates the abilities of both players at the same level.
Newcastle's shift in transfer strategy is worth noting. Previously, the team was accustomed to directly signing established first-team players from teams like Brighton & Hove Albion, Nottingham Forest, Brentford, and Bournemouth. Wilson now hopes to change direction: targeting potential young talents signed by these clubs before their rise, and personally developing and honing them. Once the players' value increases, they will be resold for substantial profits.
This model is not unique, but fans need to adjust their expectations in the short term. It is inevitable that outsiders will question: if it's just a "premium version" of Brighton & Hove Albion or Bournemouth, copying their business model, how can they compete for championships with strong teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Manchester City?
Looking at football, no team that continuously sells its core players can consistently dominate domestic and European competitions in the long run. Newcastle will eventually need to achieve both financial strength and on-field performance to retain its core players. The club hopes to achieve this goal by 2030. CEO Darren Eales has pledged to fully increase revenue, and by then the team will also be able to offer more competitive salaries and transfer budgets.
Over the past year, two of the team's main attackers, Gordon and Isak, have left. If Tonali also transfers this summer, Eddie Howe will lose three key players in quick succession in the short term.
Even with significant squad changes, the team is still expected to qualify for European competitions next season. Many fans consider failing to qualify for the Champions League a failure, while also expecting the team to go further in cup competitions and challenge for trophies. This expectation from fans needs to be tempered appropriately. The club is restarting its long-term team building plan, with the goal unchanged, but the execution method completely revamped, and all of this requires time to mature.
The team will still sign excellent players, but new signings will be more about potential than immediate top-tier established stars. This batch of new signings this summer will need at least one season to fulfill their value.
Wilson and Eales need to proactively explain the new transfer strategy and its implications to the fans, rather than leaving the explanation to Eddie Howe, otherwise the coach could easily be seen as making excuses.
Last season, the team's league performance was poor, and Eddie Howe was already under public pressure. Although he agrees with the new transfer philosophy and is confident in coaching players on the training ground, Newcastle's squad in September this year will be completely different from the team that reached the Champions League twice and won the League Cup in the past three years.
After a decline in performance last season, the team is now striving to get back on track. The management has conducted extensive research on target players, and the candidates on the list also give the team hope.
However, replacing established key players with young players is inherently full of uncertainty. The scarcest commodity in the world of football is patience, and whether Eddie Howe can receive enough tolerance and understanding from the fans has also become a major issue for the club.