Newcastle United is banking huge money this summer, and we’re all happy about it. That said, there’s a growing concern about what all the superstar sales say about the direction of the club nearly five years into its Saudi ownership.
The Mirror’s Andy Dunn argued that Newcastle has extracted strong value from Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and potentially Bruno Guimaraes, but only because core players are choosing to leave the club instead of staying around so it can get to greater heights.
“But it
is also indisputable that Newcastle’s hand has been forced by their marquee players WANTING to leave the club,” Dunn wrote.
Gordon has joined Barcelona, Tonali has moved to Tottenham, and Guimaraes is likely bound for Arsenal after he very publicly hinted at his preference to leave for the Premier League champions.
If Newcastle sells Bruno for around £75 million, roughly €87 million, Dunn noted the club would have raised about £250 million, roughly €292 million, from three players tied to last season’s underwhelming team, but still vital for NUFC’s hopes next season as the three best members of their most recent XI.
That money should undoubtedly help Newcastle navigate financial rules and land some youngsters for the future, as they have already done with some, but the optics are ugly, to say the least, as this was not supposed to be the shape of the PIF project.
Dunn pointed back to CEO David Hopkinson’s bold comments from December, in which he said, “By 2030, I see this club being in the debate about being the top club in the world … and winning the Premier League is a realistic short-term aim for the club.”
Dunn’s response was blunt, as there are only three seasons left to hit that checkpoint and it’s not like the Magpies are even finishing seasons in the top half of the EPL anymore, let alone playing in Europe.
“No, it is not,” Dunn wrote. “And under this current regime, it is hard to see how it ever will be.”
The Guardian’s Louise Taylor also framed Bruno’s possible exit as a potential major turning point for Newcastle, with Arsenal interested and the midfielder receptive to a move.
“A sliding-door moment approaches,” Taylor wrote.
Taylor believes that the lack of improved infrastructure around the club has contributed to frustration among Gordon, Tonali and Guimaraes, with the Newcastle faithful and the players keep waiting on major training ground and stadium redevelopments that have been half a decade in the making with no progress at all.
For now, Newcastle has reinvested some of the money raised in the past few weeks in bringing in younger talents, including Sean Steur, Ewen Jaouen and Bazoumana Toure. That’s promising, but that’s not a group you call elite.
There is no doubt Newcastle has money. What the club and PIF need to make clear now is that the project is still moving forward and not regressing into the old ways we don’t want to remember these days.
