Raiding the relegated

Every year when the final curtain comes down on the Premier League season, I have a look at which players at the relegated clubs Newcastle United should potentially consider signing.

It’s a market that Newcastle have used frequently over the years.

Often people will comment that these teams went down for a reason and that we are past signing relegated players.

However, being in a relegated team doesn’t make every individual of that team useless.

Our most recent relegated signing was Nick Pope and how much did we miss him during his injury?

That being said, this year was possibly the worst I’ve experienced in the eight or so seasons I’ve been producing this article. There appeared to be so little talent in those relegated sides.

There were players that earlier in the season I would have been tempted by.

James Trafford has been mooted by many as a star of the future. We have been linked with him, but he ended up losing his place last season and considering the likely high price tag, I’m unsure whether now is the right time to snap him up. He has potential but I think the Championship is a good place for him in the short term.

Cameron Archer has pace to burn and I had high hopes for him early on. He barely got any goals in the end, albeit in a shocking Sheffield United side. Another year in the Championship is probably what that young lad needs.

I thought Jacob Bruun Larsen looked decent but he’s actually the property of Hoffenheim.

If Lewis Hall hadn’t finished the season so strongly, I may have mooted sending him on loan and bringing in Alfie Doughty. The Luton left back created eight goals last season and was a decent threat down that flank, but I think Hall should be our main man next season, whilst Targett, Burn, A Murphy and Trippier can all play there (and possibly Kelly soon), unless we could get Doughty at a bargain price, it’s probably not a worthy investment.

I only went for three players below this season and none of them played for Sheffield United. Luton were the team that I wanted to stay up and felt they played great football throughout the season. They took four points off us and only narrowly lost many games, including against some of the top teams in the league. Two of the players are from the Hatters.

Ross Barkley

This may cause some scoffs but this guy would be one of my top targets this summer. I’m not even just talking about from relegated sides. I’m talking generally.

Something of a forgotten man. The player that lit up Merseyside in the blue of Everton, fell flat in the blue of Chelsea. Yes, he’s 30. Yes, he didn’t cut it at Chelsea, but there is still a player in there.

In my opinion he’s been one of the top performers in the league this year. I’ve watched a lot of Luton and he has regularly been their best player. Sure, you may be thinking, the best player in a naff team, but he dragged their performances up.

There were a couple of games in December that really stood out. They played Arsenal and Man City and, in both games, I thought Ross Barkley was the man of the match. On both of those occasions he was spectacular. He danced through tight gaps, played incisive passes and looked very much the player he had been several years ago.

He wears number 6 now, where once he donned the 8, he seems to drift between both those roles and that of a number 10. He is a box-to-box midfielder and reminds me a lot of Bruno in the way he is press resistant and doesn’t panic when receiving the ball deep in his own half. He regularly wriggles free and finds passes short or long to keep moves going and he’s not afraid to get stuck in either.

When everyone’s available, central midfield is probably our strongest area of the pitch. We have Bruno, Joey, Tonali, Willock, Longstaff, Anderson and Miley to choose between. However, I think besides the first three named, Barkley would provide an upgrade the others.

With his fee likely to be low, this could be shrewd business.

Carlton Morris

I would not condone the selling of Callum Wilson. He is our second all-time Premier League goal scorer and one of the best finishers in the division. He does suffer more injuries than your average player but, when he is fit, he scores goals.

There is no denying that he is second choice now though. With those injury problems it’s probably not a bad thing but Wilson is a born competitor. He may decide that he wants one more hit at being the main man. If he decides he wants to leave, we would let him go. I’m sure we’d spend decent money to replace him but if didn’t have the flexibility to spend £30/40+ mil then we could do worse than Carlton Morris.

Morris reminds me a lot of Wilson actually. He’s not as good a finisher but he bagged 11 goals this season and notched up four assists. He’s quick and strong. He holds up the ball well and can link play nicely. He’s got that Wilson edge as well and doesn’t mind tussling with his opponents. His durability is in stark contrast to our number 9, Morris played every single Premier League game last season.

If we did keep Wilson, maybe Morris could be that third choice striker some are desperate for. I can’t imagine he’d command an enormous fee and would represent decent value at the age of 28. Considering he’s spent his career in the lower leagues, even though he’d likely have options to be the main man elsewhere, surely he’d jump at the chance to join our project for a year or two.

If we get the nightmare scenario that we’ve had in the last two seasons of both of our main men being missing, he could be an able deputy in their absence.

His strike partner Elijah Adebayo would be a similar option. He netted 10 goals in 26 appearances but lost a chunk of the season to injury. He’s a more skilful player than Morris but offers a lot of the same qualities. His injury in the second half of the season coincided with a real drop in form for Luton.

Wilson Odebert

I picked this player out early in the season. He appeared direct, skilful and lightning quick. I thought he might be a real one to watch as the season progressed. He had his moments but didn’t quite have the impact I’d imagined.

However, he is only 19 and was playing his first season in the Premier League in a relegated side. His haul of three goals and three assists in 29 games isn’t going to get anyone too excited but it is comparable to the record of a certain Miguel Almiron who got three goals himself but just the one assist in 33 games. He certainly doesn’t offer the work rate of Almiron but he does have the years ahead to potentially evolve into a top player.

Capable of playing on either wing, if we could get him for similar to what Burnley paid (around £10 million) he could be an investment. Loan him back to Burnley for the season in the Championship and see how he gets on.

That’s it for this season. I’m hoping for a better batch to pick from next time around. If you have any suggestions of your own, please drop them in the comments.

You can follow the author on Twitter @billymerlin