Newcastle United's dream 20-man Premier League squad with Jarrod Bowen and five more signings

Newcastle United kick off their 2024/25 Premier League campaign at home to Southampton in just over six weeks' time and the Magpies know they still have plenty of transfer business to complete between now and then.

After selling Yankuba Minteh to Brighton and Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest at the weekend, Newcastle are ready to spend in excess of £100million as they bid to qualify for European football again.

United appointed Paul Mitchell as their new sporting director on Thursday morning and there is now excitement over who Newcastle will recruit given his excellent track record. Mitchell signed a young Patrick Bamford at MK Dons, the likes of Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane at Southampton and Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld, Son Heung-Min and a £1million Dele Alli during his time at Tottenham Hotspur.

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He was also the man who discovered Christopher Nkunku at RB Leipzig and as Newcastle look to move towards the next phase of their development, there is hope he can replicate his data-driven success on Tyneside. But to do that, there is some squad management to undergo, too, ahead of the visit of Southampton on the opening game of the season.

Nick Pope will start the season in goal, with new signing Odysseas Vlachodimos expected to start the season as number two on the bench. Fellow new signing John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie will provide competition in the goalkeeping department, with Martin Dubravka expected to be sold on this summer amid interest from Celtic, as well as clubs in Germany and Saudi Arabia.

Kieran Trippier would start the season as right-back, with Tino Livramento continuing to learn from him as his deputy. Despite being linked with a move away from St James' Park, the England international's experience and leadership to this Newcastle team remains too vital to sacrifice.

At centre-half, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman are set to miss the opening months of the season and the starting centre-half pair will much depend on who Newcastle can recruit between now and then. The likes of Fikayo Tomori and Tosin Adarabioyo, who has since joined Chelsea, have been linked with a move but talk of a move for AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw will not go away.

Should the 22-year-old, who moved to the San Siro from Schalke two years ago, join Newcastle, he would likely start the season on the bench, with Fabian Schar partnering new signing Lloyd Kelly at the centre of defence.

A big decision faces Eddie Howe at left-back, too. Dan Burn has been hugely impressive at left-back for the last two-and-a-half seasons but Newcastle's defensive woes moved him infield towards the end of last season.

That handed Lewis Hall his chance to shine at left-back and the England youth international, who has just turned his loan move from Chelsea into a permanent deal, did just that. Hall is seen as Newcastle's future first choice left-back for years to come and the decision now is whether that future begins on August 15.

Newcastle have four midfielders to choose from for three spots on the opening day of the season. In another world they would have had seven players to choose from but Anderson has joined Nottingham Forest, Sandro Tonali remains suspended and Lewis Miley will miss the first two months of the season through injury.

Bruno Guimaraes will anchor the midfield and Joelinton will almost certainly join his compatriot on the left-hand side of that midfield. The decision then rests between who starts on the right-hand side between Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock. If Willock is fit, then the energy he can bring to the midfield should give him the nod.

Who starts for Newcastle on the right-hand side of the front three on the opening game of the season is perhaps the most intriguing question of all. Minteh has been sold and Miguel Almiron is expected to make way for a new right-winger, amid interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia.

The question is whether Almiron is sold before the start of the season and whether a replacement is signed inside the next six weeks. If that doesn't happen, Jacob Murphy would likely start the season on the right-wing, but the hope is that a marquee new signing will form a dream front three with Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak.

West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen has been mentioned in recruitment meetings and his record of more than 20 goal involvements in each of the last three seasons would make it a deal worth doing, even if the Hammers play hard ball over a potential transfer fee.

Gordon will need some love after Newcastle offered him to Liverpool in their bid to not fall foul of PSR rules. But a new right-winger joining him and Isak in the front three should be enough to convince him of Newcastle's ambition. if Harvey Barnes can maintain his fitness for the entire season, too, then Newcastle could arguably have the strongest two left-wing options in the league.

Up front, Isak is Newcastle's undisputed number one choice after his 25-goal season last term. Callum Wilson's future looks to be elsewhere, though, with the 32-year-old attracting interest from West Ham and clubs in Saudi Arabia.

Wilson has one year left on his deal and after an injury-ravaged season, it may be the time to cash in on a forward who has scored more goals for Newcastle in the Premier League than any other player not named Alan Shearer.

But if Newcastle do sanction his departure, they must replace him with a proven goalscorer. Bournemouth's Dominic Solanke's name has been mentioned but Newcastle failed in a bid to sign Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin last month, too. It remains to be seen whether that move can be revived this summer.

Possible 20-man squad to face Southampton:

Starting line-up: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Kelly, Hall; Guimaraes, Willock, Joelinton; Bowen, Gordon; Isak

Substitutes: Vlachodimos, Livramento, Thiaw, Burn, Krafth, Longstaff, Murphy, Barnes, Calvert-Lewin