Newcastle United Need to Clear Out the Deadwood From a Massively Bloated Squad
"?Newcastle United have done some positive things in the summer transfer window so far, but now it's time to focus on the other side of the coin.
By bringing eight new players into the squad, they have been left with a bloated first team - one that needs its fat seriously trimmed.
There are a number of players who are simply past their sell by date, and moves away from Tyneside must be found for them before the transfer window slams shut at the end of this month.
Henri Saivet, Manu Riviere and Cheick Tiote are all living on borrowed time. Newcastle's Spanish manager Rafa Benitez doesn't see a place for them in the match day squad. All of those men have had their positions come under threat from summer signings and must surely be waiting for a bid to secure their services.
Although, thus far, only Saivet and Riviere have attracted serious interest, both from their homeland. Tiote could have left United earlier in the window, but Benitez didn't think the sum offered for the Ivorian was enough.
And that's the tricky line that the former Liverpool manager must tread: get rid of these players, but do so without undercutting the club and bringing in too little in exchange.
By and large, Newcastle's summer spending has been financed by the megabucks move of Georginio Wijnaldum to Liverpool - and if Moussa Sissoko goes for anything near the £30m the club is asking for, it will add another serious chunk of change to Bentiez's war chest.
Not only does the first team need to be reduced, but there are a number of footballers sitting in the second string who are past their sell by date on Tyneside. Sammiy Ameobi, Gael Bigirimana and Haris Vuckic are three who should be looking for new clubs for the sake of their career.
Keeping these lads around the team does them no favours. Those six are unlikely to feature much this season, and a lack of football will undoubtedly cause bad vibes around the training ground.
In order to keep the whole squad fit and motivated, they must know that anyone could be dropped and anyone called up at a moment's notice. At the moment, that's far from the case.
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