Aston Villa’s CEO Christian Purslow has claimed that he was really shocked with what Newcastle United di in the January transfer window.
Newcastle were desperate to sign some reinforcements for the second half of the season, but financial restraints meant that they couldn’t even afford the loan fee for Kalvin Phillips and made no first-team signings.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Purslow claimed that Newcastle having the wealthiest owners in football but not being allowed to compete financially with the likes of Man City and Man United ‘just feels wrong’.
Newcastle were unable to strengthen in January
Newcastle had finally broken through into the top four last season when they massively underachieved under Eddie Howe and gained Champions League status for the first time in 20 decades.
Their plan was hopefully to maintain that status and cause a bit of disruption amongst the tradition ‘big six’ clubs, but the Premier League’s rules threw a spanner in the works for Newcastle.
An unexpected number of injuries and suspensions meant that Newcastle had a bit of a crisis on their hands in December and January which meant their form plummeted, but they weren’t allowed to add to their squad in January.
With the wealthiest towners in the world Newcastle were limited to signing just one youth player from Manchester City in Alfie Harrison while Howe was crying out for a defensive midfielder, a new striker, a new left-back and potentially a new right-winger.
On Newcastle’s spending, Purslow said: “When Eddie Howe said in the first week of January that we’re going to have to sell players if we want to buy players, that was a seismic moment for the average football fan like me. I was thinking, ‘Hold on. This club is owned by impossibly wealthy owners who are highly ambitious.’
“We have seen what they have done in golf. They didn’t buy Newcastle to be a mid-table side. They want to try and challenge the elite and the establishment. They have got the money. There’s no question of sustainability when they are using real cash yet they are having to sell players ironically, probably, to the big six clubs who benefit from that.
“That just feels wrong. We shouldn’t be using these rules to prevent really well-funded new owners restructuring and improving clubs in the period after a takeover.”
Newcastle hoping to have a big summer window
While they will still have to play by the Proft and Sustainability Rules, Newcastle should have a bit more room in the budget this summer with their Champions League and Adidas money set to come in.
But even despite that, their CEO Darren Eales did suggest that a big sale from the first-team squad was very likely to allow them to reinvest in the future.
Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Sven Botman were the three names rumoured at the time but Newcastle do have some other options who they could potentially move on to protect the trio.
Regardless, those in charge will want to make some big changes in the summer after what has been a disappointing season and they’ll want to get back amongst Europe’s elite as soon as possible.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
