Why Newcastle United must move now on Nnamdi Collins as priority right-back purchase

Let’s talk about a position that all of a sudden neared crisis point, because acknowledging it means accepting the scale of the rebuild ahead. Right back. A position where, with Tino Livramento, Kieran Trippier and Emil Krafth all as legitimate options, felt sorted. That is very much no longer the case.

Trippier is gone. Emil Krafth, whose contributions were always considerably more substantial than the squad’s third-choice tag ever gave him credit for, is gone now too. Livramento’s future is, to put it charitably, a live conversation, with a long-mooted move to Manchester City refusing to go away however many times the club brief against it. And even in the most optimistic scenario where Tino stays, we have all spent enough of the last two seasons watching our hands over our faces as he pulls up yet again to know that he cannot be counted on to be available for the entirety of a campaign we cannot afford to waste.

Which brings us to Lewis Hall and Lewis Miley, two players who did things this season that their natural positions had absolutely no right to ask of them. Miley at right back was, at times, remarkable, filling into an unknown position with a maturity that belied his age, and makes you wonder where exactly is his best position (answer: centre midfield)

Then there is Lewis Hall, drafted in on the wrong side towards the end of the season, and showing why many Newcastle United fans are choosing him as their player of the season. At only 21 years old, he is progressive, he carries the ball into dangerous areas, and his contribution as an inverted presence from the right was a genuine tactical weapon under Howe when everything else around him was creaking. 

But here is the honest truth: Hall is a left back. Miley is a central midfielder. They did manfully because the squad left them no choice, and they deserve enormous credit for it. Using either of them as the permanent answer at right back next season is not a viable plan.

So Ross Wilson, welcome to your first summer window. You have Gordon money in the bank, a World Cup squeezing every timetable, a fanbase that is finally starting to believe again after a disappointing domestic season, and a right back position that needs solving. Which is why he needs to move fast, and secure top targets early as a lot of work needs doing this window.

The Isak principle

Let’s look back to the key advantage Newcastle United had when we performed strongly in the transfer market as a draw for players. It wasn’t the stadium, the owners’ wealth, or even Eddie Howe’s ability to improve players, though all three matter. It was the timing. We signed Isak before he was a £100m striker. Bruno Guimarães before the world understood quite what a player he was. Sven Botman was signed long before a bidding war began. Every one of those signings happened because Newcastle United identified the ceiling before the market did, and moved before the price caught up with the player. That logic applied back then as a model that worked, and we need to apply it again in this window.

And that logic applies directly now to Nnamdi Collins.

Who he is, and why the opportunity is now

Collins is 22, a Germany international, and is primarily a centre-back who has spent much of this season deployed as Frankfurt’s right back under new head coach Albert Riera, also filling in at left back when required. The positional versatility is the point: this is a CB with the athleticism and defensive instincts to function at full back, not a full back being asked to step inside. 

This positional versatility would not only provide Howe with greater rotation options, but also flexibility to make better tactical adjustments. Collins could play as a third centre half as part of a back five, or as either a right or left back in a flat four. 

The opening to snap him up is also right there because Frankfurt finished eighth. Not the Europa League. Not the Conference League. Outside European football entirely, just like Newcastle United, which for a club of their ambitions and their history is a disappointment. While we’re also not in Europe, a deal can be done as we can offer more competitive wages, and meet Frankfurt’s transfer demands. They have put a figure of around €40 million on him, which in the context of the Gordon sale is, if not quite small change, is then at least affordable, especially should Newcastle United look to cash in on Livramento. Though in reality, a figure much closer to €30 million should land him. 

What the data says

When we take a closer look at Collins from a statistical point of view, he just seems to make more and more sense. 

The spider chart below comparing him to Lewis Hall, whom many supporters’ have suggested was our player of the season, tells the story of two genuinely excellent young defenders with almost diametrically opposed profiles. Hall leads on crosses (33rd percentile vs Collins’ 1.3rd) and expected assists (63.5 vs 2.2). The attacking contribution is unambiguous: Hall gives you more going forward.

Though it is worth contextualising that number honestly, a significant portion of Collins’ minutes this season came at centre-back, where crossing is barely a consideration. The 1.3rd percentile reflects his whole season, CB and RB minutes combined. In games where he operated specifically at right back, the number will look different. It remains something to monitor, rather than a closed case

But flip to the defensive side and Collins is operating on a different level entirely. His defensive duel win rate sits at the 96th percentile.. His possession-winning numbers are at the 90th. His progressive passing is at the 88th. Aerial duels at the 68th. On every metric that relates to actually defending, stopping the press, and transitioning the ball cleanly out of trouble, he is not just better than Hall, he is absolutely elite, full stop.

The scatter chart makes the wider context clearer still. Plotted against every U23 defender across Europe’s top seven leagues, defensive duels won per 90 on the X-axis, progressive actions per 90 on the Y, aerial duels reflected in bubble size, Collins sits in the top-right corner of the board. He is simultaneously one of the most combative and one of the most progressive U23 defenders on the continent. That combination is not common. Most physical, dueling-based defenders sacrifice ball progression; most progressive defenders are selective in the tackle. Collins does both, at 22, in the Bundesliga. Here is a robust defender, comfortable in both passing and carrying the ball forward.

Dreams of Premier League…?

There is one complication that any honest fan piece has to address: Collins has made clear that Liverpool is his dream club, and Sky Germany reports that the Reds have been watching him live in the Bundesliga. In 2025 he was quoted as saying: “I think the Premier League is fantastic, especially Liverpool. You should always set yourself high goals; that’s why we all started playing football.”

That is the honest version of the situation, and there is no point pretending otherwise. Liverpool are ahead of us in his mind. They may also be ahead of us in the queue.

But here is the counter-argument Newcastle United’s recruitment team needs to be making in the next few weeks: Liverpool are likely to offer Collins a squad role. In the event we sold Livramento, he could make the right-back position his own, and given how regularly Dan Burn featured last season, Collins would certainly get minutes at centre half.

His Germany debut against Slovakia did not go to plan. He has not been recalled since. Despite having hopes of making the World Cup squad for Germany, he didn’t make the cut, and that will hurt him. He will want to secure first team football in a side where he can showcase his talents and get back into the national side. Despite our frailties last season, Malick Thiaw was a standout performer, and is on the plane to the US as part of Germany’s World Cup squad. Living proof that performing well, even in an underperforming Newcastle United side in the Premier League, can be an international football launchpad. 

Act now or watch someone else do it

Wilson has spoken about finding value outside the Premier League. He has spoken about a summer of intelligent, early movement. Collins is the definition of both. At approximately €30m, he is gettable. He will be worth €50m,in two years, at which point he’ll move on to one of Europe’s “elite” clubs. 

This is the window. Frankfurt are outside Europe. Collins wants to leave. We have the money and we have the track record of this exact type of signing – at least we used to. Signing the right player, at the right moment, at the right price, before the rest of the world catches up. This is what worked for us in the past, and this is what we need to get back to in this window. 

The question is whether Ross Wilson’s first summer ends with Collins wearing black and white, or with us watching him line up at Anfield, or at another Premier League rival, and wondering how it got away from us.

I know which version of that story we want to be telling.