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Newcastle United defender’s selfless act as £28m Chelsea signing confirmed
Newcastle United defender Dan Burn has outlined his role helping the Magpies’ newest signings settle at the club.
The signings of Yankuba Minteh, Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall have shown Newcastle’s clear and renewed focus on bringing in younger talent to help bolster the quality and depth of the first-team. It’s a shift in transfer policy that has allowed the club to lower the average age of the squad that is among the oldest in the Premier League.
Whilst their summer arrivals will all have differing contributions to make this season, it’s clear that they will all strengthen the squad and have very bright futures at the club – once they have settled into life on Tyneside. One man who knows all about life in Newcastle is Dan Burn.
Burn is part of the leadership group at the club alongside club captain Jamaal Lascelles, Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson and Matt Ritchie and revealed to the Gazette how he wants to help Newcastle’s new signings adapt to life at the club – even if that means seeing his long-term future in the first-team threatened. Burn said: “My role is to just help them get settled in.
“Trying to make them as comfortable as possible and trying to pass on information when we can if they want to learn from us. I’m an open book if they want to come speak with me, I’ll help them as much as possible.
“I do think that we’ve taken a little different direction this summer with bringing in younger lads who will eventually push us older lads out – hopefully no time soon – but they’ll eventually push us older lads out.”
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Throughout the summer transfer window, it has felt like a right-sided centre-back is a priority for Newcastle United.
Various names have been linked, and it looked like that would be the deal the Magpies pursued in the remaining weeks of the transfer window.
But then the Lewis Hall deal came about, and he is now officially a Newcastle United player. He should prove to be an excellent signing, and most likely the last of the summer for Eddie Howe.
That is despite links with players such as Joachim Andersen and Edmond Tapsoba. The former was named as a player who could move late in the window, while the latter is someone who Newcastle really like but potentially can’t afford.
Instead, it looks like Howe is going to go with what he has got. That means Fabian Schar and Sven Botman continuing their partnership, and Jamaal Lascelles and Dan Burn providing backup.
They will hopefully have enough quality to serve us well this season like they did in the previous campaign, and now the Athletic’s Chris Waugh has shared an update on why Newcastle have been unable to sign the centre-back they were craving.
Newcastle want someone better on the ball than Lascelles, but there’s a problem
On the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne, Waugh spoke about why Newcastle wanted a new centre-back, and why they are now not getting one.
“One of the thoughts going into the summer was that a right-sided centre-back would be a position Newcastle would like to add greater depth to,” he said.
“A, because of Schar’s age and the fact that he does seem to succumb to these injuries that thankfully he seems to come back from relatively quickly but eventually you would think one is going to keep him out for a little bit of time.
“And just more of a ball-playing centre-back than Jamaal Lascelles who would be the direct backup.”
Waugh added: “The problem has been in the market this summer Newcastle do not see value in the type of players they would want. They would rather wait and get the correct right centre-back – the one they see as being a long-term rather than panicking.”
Newcastle right to bide their time
It is sensible from Newcastle. They have never panicked in the transfer market since the change of ownership, and there is no reason to now.
“And just more of a ball-playing centre-back than Jamaal Lascelles who would be the direct backup.”
Waugh added: “The problem has been in the market this summer Newcastle do not see value in the type of players they would want. They would rather wait and get the correct right centre-back – the one they see as being a long-term rather than panicking.”
In an ideal world, we would have snapped up Schar’s long-term replacement. It would be someone young who is confident on the ball and a stronger passer than the captain Lascelles.
But the club do not see value in the market, and are going to wait until a transfer window down the line. Whether it is January or next summer, Newcastle’s centre-back pursuit can wait.
It feels like the club are doing the right thing, but that consensus might change if Schar picks up a lengthy injury. But that is completely hypothetical at this moment in time.
