Champions League emerges as so essential for Newcastle United | OneFootball

Newcastle United achieved Champions League qualification on Sunday 25 May 2025.

Five clubs went into the 4pm final day of the season kick-offs, competing for three remaining places.

A fraught day at St James’ Park ended in joyous AND relieved scenes, as Newcastle got over the Champions League qualification line.

United failed the final day audition but the previous nine months work and 37 Premier League matches proved to have been enough.

Of the five final day Champions League contenders, three of the five lost on the final day of the season.

Funny how these things work out.

How fine the margins prove to be between success and (relative) failure, between Champions League and Europa League and/or Conference League.

If Aston Villa had only avoided defeat at Old Trafford, if only Nottingham Forest had won at the City Ground, how different things could and almost certainly would have been.

I don’t think it will be essential for Newcastle United to qualify for the Champions League every season, in order for us to get where we need to be as a club.

However, I think it has become apparent that Newcastle United definitely needed to qualify this time for Champions League.

Put it this way, you see the levels of fear and frustration currently amongst Newcastle United fans, can you imagine what it would have been like if ‘only’ Europa League, or even possibly Conference League?!!

Sliding doors moment

We will never know now what would have happened with no Champions League qualification, it is all just hypothetical.

However, this is what I think could well have been the case for Newcastle United in the summer 2025 transfer market, both incomings and outgoings.

Losing star players

Newcastle United are not selling any star players this summer, unless Eddie Howe wants to do so. No matter what nonsense you read across the media, this isn’t happening.

Rival clubs aren’t even making any vague approach to try and sign any of Newcastle United’s key players. They know it is a total waste of time. Qualifying for the Champions League has made absolutely sure of that.

Would it have changed with no Champions League qualification?

Everything is just a best guess but I do think for sure that this summer some clubs would have tried.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, whoever. In for Isak, Tonali, Gordon, Bruno, Livramento, whoever.

I do think that if Newcastle United had no Champions League revenues to look forward to and no Champions League football to offer existing players, then I do think rival clubs would have tried to take advantage.

I am 100% confident now that with Champions League football and cash secured no key Newcastle United players will leave this summer. However, I have to admit that without it, one or more NUFC stars could and would have gone. We all know that injuries and Tonali’s suspension killed the chances of Champions League qualification two seasons ago, but fact is that players of the quality of Isak doing without Champions League football again, maybe even only Conference League to look forward in 2025/26, could we reasonably have expected to keep everybody and indeed, would it have been the right thing for Newcastle United to do?

With the PSR restrictions as they are, no Champions League money could have meant that maybe the time had come to sell one or more star players and use that cash and PSR flexibility to seriously overhaul the team and squad.

It isn’t that I think every summer this would be the case if Newcastle United don’t get Champions League qualification, but certainly this time it had to have been a massive consideration. One or more rival clubs would have tried to sign one or more of Newcastle’s best players and I think they very likely would have succeeded. With a proper approach made and of course higher wages on offer from another club, my head if not my heart tells me that we would be saying sad goodbyes…

Dry away those tears though!

That though is not the case, no sad goodbyes, no tears at all.

Quite the opposite in fact, any tears should be tears of happiness.

This is a summer when the next level is started to be built for, Eddie Howe able to build on what he has already put together at Newcastle United. He will be adding more quality players to the ones he has already got. Rather than a case of needing to sign quality players just to stand still, as you have lost some of your stand out players.

Champions League has helped ensure that Newcastle United keep all their best players AND Champions League will help play a massive part in attracting their new teammates.

You can sum this up perfectly I think with Anthony Elanga.

No public confirmation yet BUT I am very confident Elanga is coming to Newcastle United.

If Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest had both qualified for the Champions League, I think only a minute chance the 23 year old could have been signed by NUFC. If Forest had got Champions League and Newcastle not done so, absolutely no chance at all of Elanga at SJP.

I think for sure that Newcastle United will sign at least four or five players this summer and Champions League football will have helped massively. Indeed, I think probably at least three or four of those that will arrive, including Anthony Elanga, couldn’t have been possible without that CL qualification.

This is our moment, where Newcastle United can climb up a few more rungs and go from having an excellent team that can compete with anybody on their day, to an excellent team that also has a quality bench.

This is due to Champions League football, cash, prestige and so on.

Newcastle United now a serious proposition with two out of three seasons bringing Champions League qualification and this coming on top of winning a trophy. How different things could have turned out on Sunday 25 May 2025.