An official financial reality check delivered by Newcastle United.
This coming a couple of weeks ahead of the January 2025 transfer window opening.
This official Newcastle United financial reality check delivered by Eddie Howe.
The Newcastle United Head Coach speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Brentford game.
Eddie Howe discussing the potential of Newcastle United winning trophies and the obstacles that are in the club’s way, when it comes to achieving that.
In the past, the likes of Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Amanda Staveley have bullishly talked about becoming ‘number one’ and winning every major trophy.
Eddie Howe now making clear that FFP/PSR in particularly have ‘dramatically’ slowed the speed of the Newcastle United climb to potential success, never mind becoming a dominant force.
Eddie Howe comments (as quoted by The Mail) from his press conference – 17 December 2024:
‘I would say (financial rules) have had a dramatic effect on the speed of the journey.
‘I can’t deny that (speed) has dramatically changed due to the rules and you can feel that change, especially as everyone has got to grips with PSR and the actual reality of it.
‘The punishments became very real.
‘There is nothing more sobering than the thought of a points deduction in terms of changing what you have to do to comply. That will affect our ability to change things as quickly as possible from a view of winning trophies.
‘But I don’t think a lowering of expectations has happened internally.
‘There hasn’t been one moment where we’ve gone, “We can’t do this or we can’t achieve that”. Your players will soon pick up if you’re not ambitious. I always like to think the impossible is possible, especially with my players. I push them to believe we can achieve anything.
‘In saying that, there has to be some kind of realistic expectation externally, because the external expectation will harm us internally. The external view from media and everyone alike has to be moulded around our reality. Our reality has been very different in the last two transfer windows.
‘I desperately want to win a trophy for this football club.
‘For the supporters here, for their patience, for the support since I’ve been at the club, nothing would please me more.
‘We want to be the team that gets over the line and achieves something special. We do encourage the players to stand up and talk individually to the group, and it’s become very apparent there’s the same will within all of them to win a trophy here.
‘I do feel we can still grab the season and have a very successful season. But games like this become pivotal to that. The positive energy we created against Leicester (4-0 win on Saturday), you want to sustain and you want to harvest – then we can achieve great things.’
I don’t think anything new there, unless you have been living in a cave for a year or more.
However, with plenty talk about the imminent January 2025 transfer window, it does no harm for Eddie Howe to remind people of the general situation.
Especially when you do still have some Newcastle United fans, who one minute will be going on at length about all the problems PSR presents for NUFC, then the next minute listing all the players United MUST sign in the next window.
I think this especially presents itself when talk turns to the striker options. Some Newcastle United fans claiming what a disgrace it is that this past summer, Newcastle didn’t buy a quality proven striker to play second fiddle to Alexander Isak. Quality proven strikers who can score goals are surely what every single Premier League club are looking to bring on. To bring in any such signing would surely be £40m, £50m+ and serious wages. Something that the likes of Chelsea, Man U and others are easily able to do, then due to how the financial climate and rules are set up, those clubs and others from the self-appointed elite can make countless mistakes in the transfer window, yet still come back for more. Whereas at Newcastle United, a £50m signing that proves a massive flop would be a huge setback for NUFC.
Amanda Staveley Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan With Players
Newcastle United in the summer transfer window had Callum Wilson injured, so they couldn’t have sold him even if they wanted to, the same now with this upcoming window. So a more budget friendly £10m (plus £5m potential future add-ons) was agreed for Will Osula, a raw young striker who’d made only nine Premier League starts previously. Despite that scenario, you then get some fans making out that it is shocking Osula hasn’t been used more when Newcastle could have done with extra goal threat this season, totally ignoring just how inexperienced he is and clearly how much work Eddie Howe and his coaches felt they still needed to put in on him.
All very reminiscent of when an 18 year old Lewis Hall arrived, having started only eight Premier League games with Chelsea, yet some fans saying what a waste of money he was last season, as Eddie Howe worked with him, rather than instantly throw him into regular starts. Now we are all seeing the benefits of that intelligent Eddie Howe long-term approach.
I don’t think it is a case of expecting no new signings in January.
I think that there will be money available if Eddie Howe wants to strengthen his squad BUT just how much flexibility and financial power he and Newcastle United have, will depend on whether they are able to sell one or more squad players at worthwhile prices to add to the cash that would be available to spend on transfer fees and wages.
This is what we have already seen, with Eddie Howe and Newcastle United selling squad players such as ASM, Shelvey and Wood, in order to help bring in new signings. That was very different of course to the enforced sales of Anderson and Minteh this past summer to ensure NUFC stayed within immediate PSR limitations.
It has been a massive weakness, yet another hangover of the Mike Ashley era, that there is such little interest in paying any kind of significant cash for any of the players Eddie Howe inherited, apart from the very limited few, who also happen to be essential first teamers, such as Joelinton and Schar.
People say that Newcastle United should have traded better but you still need other clubs wanting to pay money for squad players that Eddie Howe would be comfortable with moving on.
Compare this to the usual suspects who, along with all the other established financial advantages over the likes of Newcastle United, at clubs such as say Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool. If a new manager comes into those clubs, they have massive squads of first team players and many in the squad they can sell on for serious money, not to mention all of these clubs with huge academies built up over years, bringing through numerous other players who can be sold as well. Newcastle United also very much playing catch up in this area of producing young players, to be developed for NUFC first team football and/or sold.