Newcastle United continue to be held back by the Premier League’s financial rules.
In PIF, Newcastle United have the wealthiest owners in world football. However, they are not the wealthiest club in world football.
Toon fans discovered that first hand on June 30th, as club officials scrambled to make up a £70million shortfall in order to comply with PSR. If they had not done that, they would have gone on to suffer a points deduction. PIF did not want Newcastle to receive a points deduction, so something had to give.
In the end, Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh were sold to Nottingham Forest and Brighton respectively. However, they were that desperate that Newcastle offered Anthony Gordon to Liverpool.
Even after the most recent PSR deadline, Newcastle have struggled to spend. £10million went towards Will Osula, while Paul Mitchell continues to negotiate a mega money deal for Marc Guehi.
Newcastle have offered nearly £65million for Guehi, as PIF attempt to break the club’s transfer record.
But if that deal goes through, Newcastle will then need to sell before they buy. It is a frustrating situation, but one that Jamie Carragher thinks is only fair.
Jamie Carragher thinks financial restrictions are vital
Carragher has appeared on The Overlap YouTube channel ahead of the start of the Premier League season, and was asked by a Newcastle United fan what he would do with financial fair play – or profit and sustainability as it is now known.
“There has definitely been a lot of frustration from clubs,” he said.
“Maybe I am saying this from a Liverpool point of view, because we have almost been seen in the past as the model to try and challenge Man City or a Chelsea. But it’s not just about buying, it’s about selling well as well. It’s not just we have loads of money, we are going to buy loads of players. It’s actually being clever and cute in the transfer market and that’s what certain teams have been. Liverpool have been one of them, I think Arsenal have been one as well.
“I think if we just allow everybody to spend exactly what they want and there’s no fall back. If you’re City and there’s no FFP at all, Pep Guardiola will come in and buy five players, they don’t work – it doesn’t matter because they are going to buy another five and eventually it will work because of the quality of player you are bringing in and this could be City or United or Chelsea or Liverpool. Any of the big clubs.
“I like the fact that if you buy someone and it doesn’t work, your judgement or scouting has been wrong, your system you’re playing has been wrong, that’s got to hurt you. You have to think we have spent that money nobody is going to buy him at the moment because he isn’t playing great, we are going to have to stick with him. So I actually think some limits in terms of spending should bring the best out of coaches.”
Newcastle are trying to increase their commercial revenue
There is a delicate balance between clubs being allowed to spend what they can afford to and protecting the integrity of the league and ensuring teams do not spend beyond their means.
For Newcastle, they could afford to buy any player they wanted if there were no restrictions. PIF have the money to invest, but that is not the way finance works in football.
Instead, the amount you spend is largely dependent on the money you generate. That can be from commercial revenue and player sales.
Newcastle are trying to boost the commercial side of the club, with the new Adidas deal seriously helping towards bringing more money into the club. Combine the Adidas partnership with the Sela and Noon sponsorships and Newcastle have made their shirt so much more lucrative.
Newcastle need to be better sellers, but that is dependent on who you have got to sell
However, the easiest way to increase revenue is by selling players. That is something that the Magpies simply are not very good at. We have seen it this week, with Miguel Almiron’s move to Charlotte FC collapsing.
He is a player who Newcastle should probably sell this summer, but it is proving to be extremely difficult.
But Newcastle’s inability to sell is impacted by the giant strides that the club are trying to make. Eddie Howe still has players from the Mike Ashley era that were battling relegation, yet they are suddenly playing alongside world class talents like Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak.
Those relegation battling players are not going to be worth much money, while the wages make them difficult to move on.
When Newcastle sold Minteh and Anderson, that was an example of good selling. Eddie Howe was disappointed to lose Minteh and Anderson, but the club made huge profits on two young players. That is something the club will need to do more in the future, even if it is frustrating to see them lose talented players who could have had bright futures at St James’ Park.
While the financial rules may change, Newcastle will continue to try and stay on the right side of the law. That might mean they need to sell before the summer transfer window closes, with Almiron, Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson and Martin Dubravka linked with moves away.
If they are all still at St James’ Park after the transfer window closes, it will be further evidence of Newcastle proving to be incredibly poor sellers.
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