Yasir Al-Rumayyan knows about Newcastle's most important addition after £186.7m FFP masterstroke

Aaron Ramsdale? Dominic Solanke? Philip Billing? No, it is Lloyd Kelly who looks set to become the first player Eddie Howe has signed from his time at Bournemouth, which is a mark of how highly the Newcastle United boss rates the defender.

In fact, Howe once said Kelly had 'everything he needs to be a top player'. Such was Howe's faith in Kelly, the then Bournemouth manager signed the centre-back to replace the more established Tyrone Mings, a future England international, who joined Aston Villa on a permanent deal just a week later in 2019.

Injuries have disrupted Kelly's development - he has only made 54 top-flight appearances in three campaigns in the Premier League - but this is a coachable player Howe clearly has huge faith in after handing him a five-year deal at Newcastle. Howe previously referred to Kelly as an 'unbelievable specimen' and, at a time when Sven Botman is sidelined for several months with a serious knee injury, the 25-year-old has the pace to enable Newcastle to play the high line that worked so well when the black-and-whites qualified for the Champions League.

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Also, when Newcastle are particularly wary of disrupting a tight-knit dressing room, Kelly is someone who can not only improve the squad but add something to the group as a deep thinker and former captain who has overcome his own challenges after spending 11 years in foster care. This is a free agent that could ultimately save Newcastle an eight-figure transfer fee in the long run in a summer where the Magpies have to be particularly smart to strengthen several positions in the transfer market.

Howe once admitted that Newcastle are 'not huge payers of wages in the Premier League so the big clubs will all dwarf us in terms of that', as Chelsea did with Tosin Adarabioyo, and the black-and-whites had a lower wage bill than relegated Leicester City in 2022-23. In total, eight Premier League clubs spent more on salaries than Newcastle (£186.7m).

As obvious as it sounds, historically, the more you spend on wages, the more points you accumulate per game. Newcastle, who have splashed out upwards of £400m on transfer fees since the takeover, have gone about bridging that gap by employing a coaching team who have taken a host of players to new heights. CEO Darren Eales once told chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan that the owners had 'already delivered' by hiring Howe, arguably the club's most important addition, when the chairman suggested there was 'something in addition to the wages' in a strategy meeting captured in the 'We are Newcastle United' documentary.

Newcastle have also made some smart moves that the established order shied away from at the time. Alexander Isak, for instance, was liked by Europe's elite clubs, but it was Newcastle who were prepared to stump up the £63m after the Sweden international had a dip in his final full season at Real Sociedad and only scored six league goals. ChronicleLive previously revealed that 'all the big teams' liked Tino Livramento, but it was Newcastle who put money down when their rivals were a little more wary following the youngster's serious knee injury. And what about Anthony Gordon? Yes, Chelsea had a huge bid turned down a few months earlier, but there was not exactly a queue of clubs prepared to pay up to £45m for the forward in January, 2023 after a difficult period at Everton.

Could James Trafford be next in line? The goalkeeper conceded 62 goals in 28 appearances last season, an average of more than two goals per game. The 21-year-old did not claim his first clean sheet in the Premier League until December and kept just two shutouts full stop. The Cumbrian did not feature in any of relegated Burnley's final 10 games of the campaign.

However, while that may put off some of Trafford's longtime suitors, Newcastle have clearly seen something in a goalkeeper who was rarely offered suitable protection in a side that had the third-worst defensive record in the league last season. It is also worth noting, for context, that Nick Pope, another goalkeeper Newcastle targeted following Burnley's previous relegation in 2022, did not even make his Premier League debut until the age of 25.

Trafford, for further perspective, was still on loan at Bolton Wanderers in League One not so long ago but the goalkeeper's performances for England's under-21s at the Euros last summer offered a glimpse of his potential. Trafford became the first goalkeeper in the tournament's history to not concede a goal in six matches; the youngster even saved a stoppage-time penalty and the rebound in the final against Spain as the Young Lions won the Euros for the first time in nearly four decades. That was a night Anthony Gordon remarked that he would trust his international team-mate to 'save anything'.

If that was the best night of Trafford's life, the goalkeeper has endured some testing moments since at Burnley, but the big thing Howe's recruiters look for with young goalkeepers is how they handle adversity as much as their comfort playing out from the back or their presence in the box. What happens when they make a mistake? Are they resilient enough to bounce back? Well, Matt Gilks, the goalkeeping coach who worked with Trafford at Bolton, once said the shot-stopper is 'really good' at dealing with setbacks and 'just brushes it off'.

In the right hands, Newcastle clearly believe that Trafford could not only push Pope but, also, one day succeed the goalkeeper. If an agreement can be struck with Burnley, this is a player who could benefit from working with Howe and his staff, who will have more time than ever to coach the players next season.

Qualifying for Europe was Newcastle's target last season, and missing out was a huge blow, but it will give players extra sessions with Howe and his staff on the training pitches. Following a campaign where the Newcastle boss did not always have the chance to properly work and drill the group at a high intensity, due to fixtures, injuries and fatigue, that could yet be significant.