Eddie Howe has confirmed Newcastle United were forced to sell a player at well below his market value.
Back in 2024, the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) were biting at Newcastle United.
Indeed, they risked a points deduction from the Premier League if they had breached them and duly had to sell players before the accounting deadline.
While it is true that Newcastle didn’t necessarily have to cash in on an academy product, the fact they go down as ‘pure profit’ on a club’s balance sheet obviously promotes doing exactly that.
Elliot Anderson, of course, left St James’ Park for Nottingham Forest and will return to Tyneside on Sunday in the Premier League clash between the two sides.
Newcastle sold Anderson to Forest for £35million but would end up giving a lot of that fee back to the club when they signed goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Speaking ahead of his return to his boyhood club, Howe admitted Newcastle did not get value for money.
Eddie Howe says Newcastle United sold Elliot Anderson too cheaply
The Newcastle United manager was speaking ahead of Sunday’s game.
Naturally, he was asked all manner of questions about Anderson and, again, he stressed that it was a deal Newcastle didn’t want to do.
Howe also said that, from the minute it was agreed, Newcastle knew they were selling him on the cheap.
“We knew that [Anderson was sold cheaply],” he said.
“We knew that the minute that it was going to happen, or likely to happen. We were massively selling him at a big discount but the position we were in, we weren’t in a very strong negotiating position at all.
“It was that or a points deduction, so I’ve said many times, we had no choice but to make the sale.”
Eddie Howe agrees that Elliot Anderson had to leave Newcastle United to develop
While the Newcastle United academy graduate wasn’t exactly pushing to leave the club this summer, Anderson has admitted that he had to leave Newcastle for first-team football.
Last month, he said: “It was sort of a tough move at the time, but I think ultimately, I probably wouldn’t be sat here now if I didn’t make the move.
“So, I think sometimes you’ve got to sort of step out of your comfort zone and believe in yourself, which is sort of what I’ve done.
“I believed I was ready to go and play in the Premier League every week. So yeah, as I say, I don’t think I would be in this position now if I didn’t do it.”
Asked about that during Friday’s press conference, Howe agreed that he may not have developed so quickly had he stayed at Newcastle considering the competition for places.
Howe said: “It’s a difficult question. Answering it honestly, maybe not at the pace that he has at Nottingham Forest.
“It’s always tough to give you definitive answers on that because a lot would have depended on Elliot and how he performed and how our other players in the squad performed around him as well.
“He was probably at a stage where he was desperate to play regular football, and I couldn’t argue with that sort of train of thought. I want all my players to feel that and want that.”
Sadly for the club, Newcastle do not have a buy-back clause for Anderson.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
