Rafa should have money to spend on new players in January
CASH AVAILABLE DESPITE UNCERTAINTY
NEWCASTLE United are due another sizeable chunk of the Premier League’s centralised prize pot in January in a move that should help to shore up Rafa Benitez’s transfer fund if there is no movement on a takeover.
United boss Benitez met with head of recruitment Steve Nickson on Monday and he is looking to recruit in the next transfer window whoever is in control of the club.
Amanda Staveley’s PCP Partners group are carrying out due diligence on United, who were formally put up for sale in October by Mike Ashley and there remains optimism from her party that a deal can be brokered.
But there remains plenty of uncertainty – with even Benitez unsure of exactly what lies ahead for Newcastle.
He’s understood to have assembled a Plan A and Plan B for recruitment – but acknowledges that there may be the same budgetary constraints that made life difficult in the summer if Staveley’s group haven’t taken the next step of tabling an offer for Newcastle.
Newcastle WILL have money to spend in the window though, even if Ashley is in charge.
Late sales in the summer saw Newcastle clear several big earners off the books, as well as receive an estimated £6m for Siem De Jong and Grant Hanley, who departed in the final week of the transfer window.
Newcastle also sold Tim Krul and Manu Riviere to clear space for new players to arrive – which didn’t happen in the final days of the summer window.
Crucially, the club will also get some more of the centralised pot of Premier League cash in the first week of January.
Before prize payments and “facilities fees”, Newcastle – like the rest of the Premier League – will bank around £80m that the Premier League distributes to clubs for the bumper domestic and international TV and radio deals negotiated by the league’s power brokers.
And that money is NOT distributed in one big payment – instead there are smaller monthly payments and two bigger ones, in the summer and in January. The larger of the two is in the middle of the summer – thought to be around £40m – but clubs also receive a chunk in January, which many clubs put towards costs and player recruitment.
The way the payments are structured, clubs then receive merit payments based on their position in the table in the summer – along with a “facility fee” payment which corresponds to the number of times they have been broadcast live on TV.
All clubs receive a minimum of £10m but there is an extra £1m for every game broadcast – and United have 11 matches before the end of January. Mike Ashley’s lawyer, Andrew Henderson, said at the time of confirming the club is up for sale that funds would be made available in January even if he was still in charge, and there is business sense behind that decision. The Newcastle owner is petrified of the costs associated with another relegation – indeed, it’s understood to be part of the reason for his public declaration to sell – and will be aware that if Newcastle drop into a relegation fight it undermines his valuation and could, ultimately, lead to a ruinous drop into the Championship. It’s unlikely he’d risk that – even if there is no chance of him personally injecting funds to bankroll a January spend. Despite acknowledging the difficulty of operating in the New Year and being uncertain about the exact extent of what he will be able to do, Benitez wants to refresh his squad and will be attempting to broker several deals.
He wants forwards and a number ten to compete with Mo Diame and Ayoze Perez.
Once again, the club will listen to offers for those who do not feature regularly, and Jack Colback has been told to find a new club.
He will hope that Staveley and her group can complete a deal in the next seven weeks that would be transformative for his ambitions and Newcastle’s scope in the market but if not, Benitez’s planning and the club’s financial position should ensure Newcastle are not left shortchanged in the New Year.