Magpies will be forced to splash cash to keep up

THE fees themselves may not be astronomical, but Newcastle United’s fellow promoted sides are showing the Magpies precisely what needs to be done this summer.

Brighton and Hove Albion have already broken their transfer record with the reported £6m acquisition of Mathew Ryan from Valencia this week.

Huddersfield Town are set to follow suit after agreeing a £10m deal with Manchester City for the permanent signing of Aaron Mooy from Manchester City – a player Newcastle were credited with an interest in, although it is understood they never cast more than a fleeting glance in the midfielder’s direction.

Within a matter of days, two of the newly promoted Premier League sides will have broken their own transfer records – bizarrely, both on Australian internationals, despite Oceania not exactly being renowned as a hotbed of ‘soccer’.

Neither fee is astronomical. In fact, Newcastle twice paid £10m or more for acquisitions last summer, while another three were equal to or more expensive than the £6m Brighton have parted with to lure Ryan to the south coast.

But both Huddersfield and Brighton’s respective willingness to break their own transfer records highlights the inflationary nature of the current market – and the need to part with more cash than ever before in order to bring players through the door.

True, neither the Terriers nor the Seagulls have ever played in the Premier League, so it was almost inevitable both would break their transfer records this summer.

But this summer surely appears to be the time Newcastle will need to do likewise – particularly if they are going to sign a 20-goal-a-season striker, or an attacking-midfielder with the creative nous to propel the Magpies up the Premier League.

As we highlighted this week, Newcastle’s 12-year-old transfer record has stood for almost double the length of time of any of the top flight’s other 19 sides.

It is six-and-a-half years since Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur last broke theirs, but every one of the other 17 teams have done so in the last few seasons. In fact, 11 clubs have done so in the past 12 months – and three have, or are set to do so, during this current window.

The market is ludicrous, but the market is what United must operate in – and that transfer record surely needs to fall in the coming weeks.