Every player has his price, admit Newcastle

Toon say spending rules mean they’ll have to sell stars to invest in future

NEWCASTLE say that every player has a price and one of their stars will have to be sold if they are to beat financial rules and challenge at the top of the Premier League.

That was the message from chief executive Darren Eales as he outlined how restrictive profit and sustainability rules (PSR) are on the Saudi-owned club’s spending power, also warning there is not scope for a significant incoming this month.

Asked if one of Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman or Alexander Isak would be sold in the summer, Eales said: ‘It’s difficult to hypothesise, but if we’re offered £1billion for one of those players, then no one could argue against that making sense.

‘If we’re going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players. It is counter-intuitive and part of the inherent system of PSR that there is an incentive to trade your players, if you want to re-invest.’ So, every player has a price? ‘Correct,’ said Eales, talking to reporters from the St James’ Park boardroom as the club revealed accounts showing revenue of £250million — a 39 per cent increase — but with a loss of £73.4m, largely due to £153m spent on new players.

‘For example, you have a £50m player you can sell and you bring in another player of the same value. You might say, what’s the point in doing that?’ he added. ‘But, under FFP, if you sell a £50m player and bring in an identical one at £50m on the same wages, but amortise over five years the player you are bringing in, that’s only £10m a year, so you are creating £40m of headroom. We’ve seen lots of examples. Phillippe Coutinho at Liverpool and they brought in Alisson and Virgil van Dijk. Jack Grealish left Aston Villa and they have reinvested. Declan Rice at West Ham.

‘We want to be a top-six sustainable club and Tottenham’s latest accounts was £440m (revenue). We are at £250m, so there is a big step even to the lower end of the top six. Manchester City are £710m. There is a long way to go.’

Eales says there are constant discussions between Premier League clubs over whether PSR restrictions need to be changed and he admits it is limiting for Newcastle, whose Saudi owners are, theoretically, the richest in world football.

‘When the takeover took place, the PSR regime was already in place, so we have always known the rules and we will always be compliant,’ he said, when asked if his club were ‘handcuffed’.

‘If you are trying to be upwardly mobile, it makes it a huge challenge. We are going to invest but the PSR regime undoubtedly makes it more challenging. We have to be efficient and maximise our resources. We can’t think week to week, month to month. If we are going to get where we want to, which is a top-six sustainable club competing for trophies, we have to take a long-term vision.’