Could Newcastle's summer signing seek to be the end of their defense issues?

Newcastle United's 2024/25 season so far has been pretty disappointing. Although the side was off to a few quick points in the initial games, being winless from the last 5 games has made them struggle for points lately. However, be it their recent loss against Chelsea, a disappointing fixture against Brighton, or Fulham, the way Newcastle has dropped some claimable points would definitely hurt them.

Could Newcastle's summer signing seek to be the end of their defense issues?

While poor finishing in the final third has certainly been a major issue for Eddie Howe's XI, their recent game against Chelsea pointed out serious issues in their defense line. In their recent outing at Stamford Bridge, the club's backline seemed much off to face the wrath of Chelsea's attack force, especially Cole Palmer, who exploited clear spaces much more easily.

Although so far in the season, the veteran duo of Fabian Schar and Dan Burn has been doing decent, a major issue troubling them has been their lack of pace. Both the center-backs, being much more dependent on their physicality than pace, proved to be a weak link once again, as Palmer made quick runs past their backline repeatedly, testing Nick Pope on various occasions.

Clearly going forward, Newcastle needs to improve on this aspect if they are to put up a solid fight for a European qualification this season. However, the solution to this is not very difficult, as the club's summer signing, Lloyd Kelly, could be the perfect replacement for veteran Dan Burn, who has been troubled significantly due to lack of pace. But, there are issues with this scenario as well.

In his 7 appearances for Newcastle this season, Kelly has been predominantly used as a left-back by manager Eddie Howe rather than his conventional center-back role. Moreover, even if the Newcastle boss Howe decides to trust him in the role, he, despite being a brilliant option, is much more injury-prone, given his injury records of the last few seasons.

Overall, certainly, Kelly could be a suitable solution for the veteran 32-year-old Dan Burn; however, it's clear that he couldn't be trusted completely given his poor injury records. In such a scenario, the best option for Newcastle seems to be their ace defender Sven Botman's return, given that Howe is otherwise also reluctant to remove Burn from his playing XI. The Magpies club fans would hope that their situations improve sooner so as to be alive in the contention for a top-4 PL spot.