Newcastle have agreed 'opportunistic' deals after ripping up transfer plan
Newcastle United were forced into a late flurry of activity in the transfer market due to the unplanned exit of club captain Bruno Guimaraes.
That is according to former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Brazilian’s transfer to Arsenal was the only one of the Magpies’ summer sales that wasn’t planned in advance.
The skipper’s departure forced the North East outfit to tear up their transfer plans, and they splashed almost £120million on Nico Gonzalez and Matias Fernandez-Pardo in the final week of the window.
Borson believes that Newcastle were “opportunistic” to seal the pair of last-minute deals, especially since they were able to take advantage of a change of circumstances at Manchester City to land Gonzalez.
The Citizens had initially been keen to keep hold of the midfielder earlier in the summer, but Borson feels that Newcastle picked up on a change of heart behind the scenes at the Etihad Stadium, and capitalised to seal a deal.
He also feels that Lille were responsible for delaying the deal for Fernandez-Pardo, otherwise Newcastle would have moved to secure his signature much earlier.
Newcastle react well to Bruno Guimaraes exit
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson explained how Newcastle’s swift reaction to Guimaraes’ exit likely saved their entire transfer window.
“I think it's a consequence of the Guimaraes sale in particular. I think the other sales were planned. I suspect that the Guimaraes situation was not something that they particularly wanted,” he said.
“Once it happened, you've ended up with three very big profits in, from Guimaraes, (Anthony) Gordon and (Sandro) Tonali. So that's pumped in a huge block of profit in that respect, which helps get them through the UEFA settlement agreement.
“Then what they can do is start to spend to smooth out the rebuild, because most of the cost is amortised over five years. So I mean, that's the plan. They've managed, somehow and quite impressively, to keep the morale of the club up after selling that depth of quality.
“I think they've doubled down opportunistically. At one point, from what we can gather Gonzalez was staying and then something changed, and City said actually he will be available and they went and got him.
“And then they’ve got a very highly rated player out of France. Now, again, why leave it so late? It was probably driven more by Lille. But I think Newcastle have been reactive to situation.”
Matthias Jaissle’s plan for Matias Fernandez-Pardo revealed
Football Insider revealed on Saturday that Matthias Jaissle is planning to use Fernandez-Pardo as a centre-forward, after Nick Woltemade’s move to join Juventus on loan.
The 21-year-old is predominantly a winger by trade, but found success playing in a more central role for Lille in the second half of last season.
Sources say that Jaissle wanted more flair and creativity in his attack, and Fernandez-Pardo’s versatility also served as a big tick against his name.
The young Belgian notched eight goals and six assists for Lille in 2025-26, and there is huge excitement about what he could potentially produce at St James’ Park.