OPINION
It would be reasonable to think that Newcastle United’s disappointing summer could not get any worse, but the latest reports suggest that may just be about to happen.
According to the Chronicle, the Magpies are being left to sweat over Fulham’s long-touted deal for Aleksandar Mitrovic, with the Cottagers being linked to other strikers in recent days.
A deal has been under discussion for weeks but an agreement is yet to be reached, and Fulham are now considering other options including Brazilian forward Willian Jose.
Serbia international Mitrovic is now facing an awkward reunion on Tyneside, with the 23-year-old due to return to training on Wednesday.
The main issue here is money, with Rafa Benitez relying on the circa £20million windfall for Mitrovic to fund the rest of his summer spending.
Fulham look to be the only club willing to pay anything close to that amount for him, so if they were to lose interest then Newcastle would be in a disastrous situation.
Benitez could try and sell other players, with the Mirror reporting that Fulham are interested in Dwight Gayle should their Mitrovic move fall through, but that sale would struggle to raise half that amount.
The bottom line is that Newcastle need to sell Mitrovic to make any decent headway in the market in the coming days, and failure to do so could spell disaster.
Funds are not forthcoming from the board, and Benitez would be left scrambling for more loan deals and free transfers, a situation in which he could only do so much.
If Newcastle want to improve upon or even just match their performance last season they need cash, and this is the only potential source for big money.
The Magpies summer is now on the verge of collapse, and something must be done in the coming days to prevent everything falling into ruin.
