Football Season Guide

Newcastle suffered a rather disappointing last season as they faded badly in the second half of it and eventually finished right in mid-table, having been in contention for the Champions League places at one point. The loss of Yohan Cabaye proved too big to handle but there is now renewed optimism and ambition around Tyneside as some excellent transfer business has been undertaken. Remy Cabella has been signed from Montpellier and he will be the man expected to replace Cabaye in the side in the coming season. The young attacking midfielder has been playing sizzling football in France over the last two seasons and it will be interesting whether he translates that form into the Premier League as well. Moreover, Dutch duo Siem de Jong and Daryl Janmaat have been signed up too and they look like excellent additions to the side as well. De Jong is a very versatile player who has excelled at a fine Ajax side in recent season. On the other hand, Janmaat had a good World Cup with the Netherlands and comes as a direct replacement for Mathieu Debuchy, who joined Arsenal. Loic Remy is another big loss from the starting 11 last season but Newcastle cannot afford to make his loan deal a permanent one. Therefore, the onus in the attacking department is expected to fall on the shockers of another of the new additions in Emmanuel Reviere. The striker has not really pulled any trees at Monaco but seems to be a decent hold-up striker with good physique and has also shown strong form in preseason. Facundo Ferreyra is the other addition up front while Jack Colback has been snapped up on a free transfer from local rivals, Sunderland, and has the potential to become an excellent midfielder for the Magpies. Therefore, it can be argued that Newcastle enjoyed a superb transfer campaign so far and their team is certainly stronger compared to last season. However, it remains to be seen how that transpires into the pitch in terms of results. There is still not enough quality to back the Magpies for a top-four push but they should be much closer to the Europa League places this time around.