Nickson will leave transfer legacy at Newcastle

Steve Nickson may have operated in the shadows, but the departing head of recruitment's legacy at Newcastle United is undoubted. It was Nickson who was heavily involved when Newcastle broke their transfer record to sign Miguel Almiron in 2019. He played a pivotal role in the £40m arrival of Joelinton, even if few could have imagined the Brazilian later being reborn as a combative central midfielder. Nickson helped convince Ayoze Perez to join Newcastle ahead of Porto in 2014. He also remained a support for Allan Saint-Maximin even after the Frenchman joined the club, and helped convince him to sign a new long-term contract in 2020. It was rather telling that Nickson was one of the few senior figures to stay on after the club's subsequent takeover. It was Nickson, for example, who physically flew out to Brazil to finalise the signing of midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon in 2022. Reflecting on that crucial window, a few years later, head coach Eddie Howe said Nickson "made sure that it was a real success" in the absence of a sporting director at the time. He has remained an important part of the club's recruitment team, identifying defender Sven Botman, and jetted out to San Sebastian and Milan to help tie up deals for Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali. Nickson, who has a sporting director qualification, now looks set to move on and take up a position with potentially more responsibility in the Championship. It will be another notable exit behind the scenes, whenever his leaving date is ultimately confirmed. However, unlike last summer, when Paul Mitchell departed, Newcastle have a sporting director in situ in Ross Wilson. Plans are in place and it will fall to Wilson and his recruitment team to carry them out.