Newcastle United could be about to take advantage of Chelsea’s need to sell.
While Newcastle United have had to careful with how they spend their cash since the arrival of PIF, Todd Boehly has had no such concerns since taking over at Chelsea.
The American bought the Blues in the summer of 2022, and has since spent more than £1billion on new players. There have been mega money deals for the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, with the latter actually linked with Newcastle before it became clear he was well out of the Magpies’ price range.
The turnover of players at Stamford Bridge has been quite remarkable, yet Chelsea have nothing to show for it. They did not qualify for the Champions League last season, nor are they going to this year. They could sneak into the Europa League or the Europa Conference League, and are actually battling with Newcastle United for a place in Europe next season.
Chelsea need to sell homegrown players
But with no European football resulting in a hit in revenue, it is forcing Chelsea to move players on. And the best way to increase your revenue is by selling homegrown players. That is because they are viewed as ‘pure profit’, incentivising clubs to sell off the talents they have produced.
One player who could fall victim to that is Conor Gallagher. He is going into the final year of his Chelsea contract, and currently looks very likely to be sold.
That is hardly going to go down well considering how important he has become, but it is the nature of the beast that they have created. In fact, Gallagher is a player who Newcastle United like, but Geordie Boot Boys have been told that a move to Tyneside is unlikely this summer.
But while Gallagher might not be on his way up north, there is another Chelsea academy product who the Magpies do have on their radar.
Newcastle interested in Chelsea teenager Josh Acheampong
That is according to Miguel Delaney’s Reading The Game newsletter, where he writes that Newcastle United are considering a move for Chelsea teenager Josh Acheampong.
Acheampong, who made his Premier League debut against Spurs earlier this month, is an 18-year-old defender who signed his first professional contract with the Blues earlier this year, and is capable of playing anywhere at the back. He is primarily a right-back, but boasts the type of versatility that Eddie Howe loves.
And it is not just Newcastle who are interested in the youngster. Delaney adds that Tottenham Hotspur are also keen, while three of the four Champions League semi finalists have been looking at him.
Acheampong is a young man in demand, and someone who Newcastle could poach from Chelsea as they weigh up which homegrown players to sell.
He is the type of signing that Eddie Howe says Newcastle need to make
Chelsea’s loss could be Newcastle’s gain, and this is the type of transfer that Eddie Howe recently referred to when he spoke to Gary Neville about recruitment.
He told the former Manchester United defender that as long as Newcastle are held back by financial restrictions, they need to sign players who are yet to truly burst on the scene and develop them themselves.
Howe said: “That [smart recruitment] is ultimately going to be where we succeed or fail. When I say smart, I mean we need to get players for cheaper than their market value and we’ve got to get them before they are recognised and develop them. I don’t know another way with the restrictions as they are.”
Acheampong would be an example of exactly that, and it will be interesting to see if Newcastle United do make a move for the Chelsea wonderkid this summer.
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