John Barnes has told Newcastle United it could be years until they qualify for the Champions League again, although the club have started putting the necessary building blocks in place in the transfer market this summer.
The Magpies have endured a difficult transfer window as they've sold former captain Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon. The trio were the cornerstone of Eddie Howe's project at St James' Park, with the Englishman also having left the club after parting ways with the club last month.
Reinvestment after player sales
The Premier League side - who appointed Matthias Jaissle as Howe's replacement last week - have reinvested in the squad after earning over £240million in player sales. Goalkeepers Ewen Jaouen and Lukas Hornicek were brought in to bolster their options between the sticks.
Bazoumana Toure was signed from Hoffenheim to fill the left-wing gap left by Gordon, while the Magpies acquired midfielders Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba to reinforce their options in the engine room.
A further signing in right-back could be on the way in the form of Amar Dedic, with the Magpies opening talks to sign the 23-year-old earlier this week. Newcastle will hope to bounce back from their 12th-place finish last season and Barnes, who played for the club from 1997 to 1999, says the fanbase must be realistic about what they can achieve.
Barnes urges patience
Speaking exclusively to Chronicle Live, via 247Bet, the England icon said: "I'm not worried in terms of them getting relegated. But what they have to understand is that all of a sudden they've lost three of their best players [and Eddie Howe].
"So, why should they be challenging and they're not going to be able to replace them? So what they can do is to get players to help them to try and start again. And if it means that it'll take two or three years to get back up to fourth or fifth, maybe that's what they have to do. And the fans have to accept that."
Jaissle's vision
Newcastle have eight days until they kick off the new campaign at home to Liverpool and will be buoyed by Jaissle's philosophy to bring excitement to the club. Discussing his plans in his first press conference as Magpies boss, the 38-year-old said: "Front-footed, intense, aggressive and, of course, successful.
"The approach we have as a coaching team, and the identity of Newcastle is famed for, it's so linked so close together, which is a perfect fit in my eyes. And that's going to be exciting.
"You need to have a clear goal of where you want to go to and that starts from the management and board. If we have that synergy with the players, fans and staff, I'm pretty sure it will be a successful story but we need time."
