Jamie Carragher has claimed that Newcastle United shouldn’t be allowed to sign Ruben Neves on loan after Sandro Tonali picked up a 10-month suspension for gambling.
Following a failed vote by all Premier League clubs to ban related-party loan deals in January, Newcastle are now free to sign the likes of Ruben Neves from Al Hilal who share the same ownership as the Magpies.
Jamie Carragher was disappointed with this news and has claimed that Newcastle should have be punished for not doing their research on Sandro Tonali.
Newcastle look to replace Tonali
Newcastle made Tonali their star summer signing after capturing him from AC Milan for £55m, but things haven’t exactly gone to plan so far.
After being caught gambling on football matches, including Milan games, Tonali is now banned from playing football for 10 months, though he can still train with the first team.
Carragher believes this should be the punishment for Newcastle – they ‘haven’t done their due diligence’ on Tonali and now have to face the consequences of not being able to use him.
Instead, Newcastle are looking to replace the 23-year-old and have been heavily linked to a loan move for former Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves.
On The Overlap, Carragher said: “The problem with it yesterday which I don’t like, which it hasn’t quite happened yet, when you talk about Newcastle and Neves and it’s almost just a rumour.
“When you think about Tonali, Newcastle have bought a player from AC Milan, now you could argue strongly Newcastle haven’t done their due diligence. They don’t know what’s going on with this guy’s private life and they have spent a lot of money and then are going to lose the player.
“That should hurt them as a club because they haven’t done things the right way. They shouldn’t then be allowed to go and get Neves, who is a £50 million player for free on a loan because they have made a mistake. If they have made a mistake they should pay for it.”
Newcastle can still look elsewhere
Despite Carragher’s comments, Newcastle would still be on the lookout for a replacement for Tonali even if the vote had been passed. They have been monitoring the situation of Kalvin Phillips who also could be loaned out to the Magpies.
After news recently emerged that Neves is happy in Saudi Arabia, the Phillips deal looks more likely to happen than ever with Manchester City happy to let their £45m signing go in January.
Newcastle also have a number of other targets on their radar and will not stop their search for a midfielder if they cannot continue their pursuit of Neves.
Carragher may not agree with what has gone on regarding the vote in the last few days, but at the end of the day, Premier League teams are always going to vote for whatever is in their best interest rather than what is better for the integrity of football.
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