Newcastle Made Major £15m Transfer Mistake This Summer

· GiveMeSport

Newcastle made a £15m transfer mistake this summer, and Matthias Jaissle is paying the price now.

Newcastle United saw their squad ripped apart during the summer transfer window, and that led to many concerns about how the season could play out.

Star forward Anthony Gordon joined Barcelona in a deal worth around £70m, while captain Bruno Guimaraes and midfield partner Sandro Tonali moved to Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur , respectively, while Eddie Howe also departed just days before the season began.

Matthias Jaissle came into the club and made some immediate changes, including deals to bring in the likes of Amar Dedic, Nico Gonzalez, and forward Matias Fernandez-Pardo to bolster his squad.

The season started well too, with Newcastle claiming a 2-2 draw with Liverpool in their opening Premier League game before a win over Tottenham Hotspur next. However, they haven't won either of their following two games, and were thrashed 4-1 by Leeds United on Monday night in a worrying display.

The game at Elland Road saw Jaissle without forward Anthony Elanga due to injury, while Dedic and Gonzalez were not 100% fit and were forced off. Those situations saw forward Jacob Murphy handed his first start of the campaign in the top-flight, but he struggled to make a positive impact and was substituted before the hour mark.

The 31-year-old is into the final year of his contract at St James' Park, and was subject to interest from rivals Nottingham Forest during the transfer window.

But despite the player being interested in the move, and the club making it clear that he would be allowed to move, Jaissle stepped in and stopped the deal happening.

Forest offered as much as £15m for the winger, but Jaissle was unmoved. Murphy then stayed put, and is now considered a backup option in attack. But his performance against Leeds shows that he isn't of the level required, and that makes Jaissle's decision to keep him around a big mistake.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of their clash with Hull City on Saturday afternoon, Jaissle spoke about Murphy and what he brings to the squad.

> "He's a really important player for our squad, not only on the pitch, also off the pitch. A leader. On the pitch, he's so smart, so game-intelligent. He knows exactly his strengths, and he knows how to deliver within our identity."

But there is a big lack of acknowledgement that the player's best years are behind him, and Newcastle could have used that £15m, or potentially angled for even more money, to be able to reinvest it into the squad and bring in someone better, or with more upside.

With the player's age, contract situation, and squad role, it's clear that he has no long-term future at Newcastle, and the club should have recognised this and cashed in during the summer.

Matthias Jaissle will have to switch things about in regards to his Newcastle team to take on Hull City due to a number of absent players

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