‘Loved it’: Alan Shearer revelled in being Newcastle’s record signing

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Alan Shearer’s move from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United was a record transfer fee at the time. It was a storybook move – Shearer was a Toon fan growing up and would go on to become their all-time top goalscorer.

Also, Andy Cole had gone to Manchester United, so the future number nine had some big shoes to fill. Cole had netted for fun since joining the Toon. But Shearer did that and more. There was a lot of pressure around Shearer, but he never felt that pressure as he wrote in The Athletic.

Shearer wrote: “I never felt that pressure. Not once. Not at all.

“You often hear or read about players being weighed down by their price tag after a move, about them struggling to live up to it, but although it did feel like a ridiculous, obscene amount of money for a club to spend on me (or on anybody) it wasn’t a burden. It made me feel extremely proud, excited, special, 10 feet tall. Truth be told, I absolutely loved it.”

Shearer cost £15 million at the time (The Chronicle).

In today’s market, Shearer would’ve cost Newcastle over £200 million

In the same piece, The Athletic worked out the value of what players from the past would’ve been worth in today’s market.

It comes as no surprise that Shearer would cost Newcastle £222 million. The current record transfer fee in world football is Neymar from Barcelona to PSG for £190 million.

That’s a real testament to how good Shearer was in 1996. He had just come off winning the Golden Boot at the Euros as England were knocked out in the semi-finals.

Even with the Magpies’ large amount of wealth today, they would have to dig out a lot of cash if they were to buy Shearer now. Furthermore, imagine how lethal he’d be if he was in this current Newcastle side.

At the end of the 2006/07 season, the local lad retired from football. Since joining the Toon, he’d broken Jackie Milburn’s record of most Newcastle goals. He tallied 206 which was six more than Milburn.

Overall it’s definitely safe to say no matter what fee they paid, if it was £15 million or £222 million, Shearer would’ve definitely been worth it. He was the greatest goalscorer to ever grace the league, it’s difficult to put a price tag on that.