Newcastle's boardroom and transfer trouble leave them in no man's land

A summer without a sporting director and failure to keep Isak happy has left club with an almost dysfunctional feel

- Louise Taylor

If you want to understand Newcastle you first need to understand its place in the world - that is, a very long way from anywhere. The next major city is Leeds, two hours' drive to the south... London feels very far away.

If Eddie Howe can only hope his prospective signings do not stumble across the Rough Guides introduction to England's northern cities, Newcastle's manager may also reflect that it was not supposed to be like this.

The days when the club's recruitment strategy was often a victim of its geographical isolation were supposed to have ended four years ago when Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund obtained the keys to St James' Park.

In October 2021 there was a sense of giddiness in the Tyneside air as Amanda Staveley, the then Newcastle director and minority owner who played a key role in convincing one of the world's richest sovereign wealth funds to buy the club from Mike Ashley, settled back into a sofa at the city's leafy Jesmond Dene House hotel and spoke of soaring ambition and trophies galore.

Since then a series of leading players including Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães have signed for Newcastle, Howe's team are in the Champions League for the second time in three years and are the holders of the Carabao Cup, their first domestic trophy for 70 years.

Rather less positively, Isak is doing his utmost to force through a move to Liverpool, a slew of big names have turned down Howe in favour of relocating to London or Manchester this summer and Newcastle are seeking their third sporting director and second chief executive in three years.