Newcastle United have made some major moves ahead of the summer.
The Magpies are continuing to go about their business as they wait for their impending takeover to go through.
The Saudi Arabian backed Public Investment Fund have yet to be given ratification by the Premier League and they are waiting patiently as tensions among fans continue to rise.
On Thursday, though, Newcastle took the step of clearing up some housekeeping business.
The club’s official Twitter account announced that right-back Javier Manquillo had signed a new four-year contract, while striker Andy Carroll also put pen to paper, though he only signed a one-year deal.
The trio of Rob Elliot, Jamie Sterry, and Jack Colback will leave upon the expiration of their contracts, meanwhile, and The Athletic’s Newcastle correspondent, George Caulkin, has weighed in on the two new deals.
Replying to a tweet questioning the wisdom of the deals, he hailed Manquillo’s development, though he believes Carroll’s deal is something of a puzzler.
Indeed, Manquillo has made 15 Premier League appearances this season, while the striker has made just four league starts this season.
Caulkin wrote: “Manquillo has come on really well this season, I think.
“The issue with losing players for free is that they have to be replaced and that usually costs money. This protects the club to a certain extent.
“Carroll is the stranger one, I’d agree.”
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
Caulkin isn’t wrong.
Newcastle may well have had to dip into the transfer market to sign a new full-back or a new striker and it makes sense to just keep the two around and allow them to stay as squad options.
It remains to be seen if they will be given a huge transfer budget to spend if their takeover goes through.
If they don’t, they will probably need to rely on the players who are still at the club.
Tying Carroll and Manquillo down provides cover for emergencies; even if the former is unlikely to ever really play.
This is just sensible squad management.