Newcastle United’s first post-takeover transfer window is over, and there’s plenty to reflect on.
The Magpies didn’t go out and sign superstar after superstar. Instead, they largely focused on signing proven Premier League players.
Eddie Howe’s influence was seemingly felt as four of Newcastle’s five signings were players with years of Premier League experience behind them.
However, things could have turned out rather differently
Indeed, cast your mind back to November, and you’ll remember that Eddie Howe wasn’t Newcastle’s first choice to replace Steve Bruce.
At the time, Unai Emery was the man PIF wanted to lead the club as a part of their masterplan to transform Newcastle’s fortunes.
At one point, it looked as though Emery would be headed to St James’ Park, but after plenty of consideration, the Spaniard committed his future to Villarreal.
If Emery had been in charge at United the January window certainly would have looked different, and in our view, there’s one signing that may have come to fruition if Emery had come in.
Indeed, in our view, Giovani Lo Celso could easily have ended up at Newcastle if their first-choice manager was appointed.
The Argentine actually ended up moving to Villarreal as he wanted to reunited with his former PSG boss Emery.
In fact, it was Emery who personally brokered the deal to bring Lo Celso back to Spain.
“Gio Lo Celso to Vilarreal is an interesting one. He had an agreement in place with Lyon. It was done between the two clubs, but Lo Celso received a phone call from Unai Emery and so he decided to go to Villarreal, and Emery was the manager who had him at PSG and they wanted to be reunited,” Fabrizio Romano said on his Here We Go Podcast.
Emery is clearly a fan of Lo Celso, and we have to imagine that he’d have attempted a similar swoop if he’d come to Newcastle.
If Emery was Newcastle’s boss, it’s not hard to imagine that the club would have shown an interest in Lo Celso, and as his move to Villarreal shows, the player may have also been keen to link-up with the former Arsenal manager.
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