Former Newcastle forward Louis Saha claims he would be “asking questions to the board” if he were still part of the Magpies squad following the decision to sell captain Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal for £75m.
Speaking to wettbasis.com, Saha said that the sale doesn’t bode well for the club’s future, and while he doesn’t expect Matthias Jaissle’s team to struggle at the bottom of the table, he doesn’t believe they will pull up any trees:
“I don’t think Newcastle will be in the relegation battle, but if they start shaky and if the players start asking about who the replacements for those big names should be, it might be a very difficult season for Newcastle.”
“The midfield is such an important area of the game, so when you lose a player like Guimaraes who was also the captain, then I don’t know what is going on. If I played at Newcastle, I would be asking questions to the board.”
“Guimaraes was their most important player. Gordon was important as well, and they lost Isak last season, so I would be asking questions.”
Guimaraes’ departure is a watershed moment
The exit of the club captain who helped Newcastle win their first major trophy in over 70 years does represent a huge shift. Some may downplay its significance, but his sale will concern fans hoping that the club were aiming to challenge the traditional “top six”.
PIF have unfortunately not been able to increase the revenue of the club sufficiently to compete with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham.
It means player sales are inevitable to comply with squad cost ratios and Financial Fair Play rules, especially without prize money from Champions League football. Guimaraes‘s departure (as well as Gordon’s and Tonali’s) is an acceptance that the model isn’t sustainable in the current climate.
Newcastle United will rely on kids
A major pivot in transfer policy means the club have recruited promising players rather than household names. The likes of Bazoumana Toure, Aladji Bamba, Sean Steur and Ewen Jaouen are all 20 years of age or younger, with new No.1 Lukas Hornicek (24) not that much older.
Sporting director Ross Wilson is banking on these new signings to establish themselves quickly, but Saha says such a strategy is “dangerous” and will paint the Magpies as a club who ONLY develop youngsters to be sold on for a profit, rather than as a destination for proven talent. We shall see if that ends up being the case.
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