Mike Ashley was never known for dipping his hand into his pocket to spend at Newcastle United.
The former Toon owner had a net spend of just £129.8m, despite being in charge for 14 years. The mantra at Newcastle United at the time was to sell players for a profit, in comparison to now where the Magpies are happy to welcome an expensive transfer if they know it will benefit Eddie Howe and his squad.
Mike Ashley was an incredibly unpopular figure on Tyneside after driving club legend Kevin Keegan out of the club in the late 2000s and draping St James’ Park in Sports Direct advertisements.
The PIF advertise at St James’ Park. But what is different to Ashley’s sponsorship is that the PIF is actually paying for the privilege, unlike previous owners who didn’t give the club a penny.
His impact on the club is still theoretically felt to this day. Ashley refused to pay £18m for Jarrod Bowen in 2020 and the winger has gone on to win a European trophy with West Ham. Even Bowen thought the Newcastle move was ‘nailed on’ before former Toon boss Steve Bruce had to bow out of the deal.
With Newcastle still trying to scrub the remnants of Ashley from between the walls of St James’ Park, a football finance expert has revealed that he still holds a record from several years ago.
Newcastle top Championship wage bill record
The 2016/17 season was one fans will look back on with fond memories. Newcastle played in the Championship after regulation the season before but won promotion immediately after under Rafael Benitez’s management.
That season Newcastle welcomed 13 players to the club that summer including the likes of Isaac Hayden who are still under contract with the Magpies, albeit on loan to Portsmouth. Newcastle spent heavily in that summer too, spending a combined £24m on Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle.
Now, football finance guru Kieran Maguire has shared that Newcastle still have the highest wage bill in Championship history, with a whopping £112.2m that season.
Newcastle were still paying wages for the likes of Remy Cabella and Florian Thauvin who were loaned out to Marseille. However, the big-money signings like Ritchie and Gayle were bound to come with hefty wage fees. Not to mention Jesus Gamez joining from Atletico Madrid on a free transfer would have been an expensive salary to pay for the club.
Magiure has previously slated Ashley for failing to grow the club commercially during his ownership – a move that Newcastle are still feeling the affects of to this day.
Benitez left Newcastle in 2019, citing differences with the ownership as the catalyst. Ashley spent significantly less than the season in the Championship before selling the club in 2021.
Times have changed at Newcastle after 2021 takeover
It has been a big period of change at Newcastle since that memorable day in October 2021. Newcastle became the “richest club in the world”. While Toon fans have not seen the vast potential of the PIF’s fortunes, there has still been a lot of money spent to make improvements both in and out of the club.
Newcastle are spending much more in the transfer market. Alexander Isak joined for a club-record fee of £63m in 2022 and have signed many more players for well over the £25m record fee paid for Joe Willock, which was Ashley’s highest ever signing.
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PIF are also looking to expand off the pitch with Newcastle officials set to learn whether a new stadium will be built or if St James’ Park will be expanded.
Plans were revealed showing a 70,000-seater stadium to replace St James’ Park. The new ground would be built just behind the existing site, keeping its iconic city centre location.
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