Newcastle have been described as being “trapped” by the Premier League’s spending rules, which could force them to sell a player known to be on Liverpool’s radar.
It is ridiculous, and symptomatic of the changing perception of the club, that a journalist could see Newcastle as “trapped” when it comes to their spending.
The Saudi-owned club has spent £416.5m on 13 first-team players in the last two-and-a-half years, with only four players sold for combined fees of around £44m.
That includes Chris Wood, a player who was bought for £25 million in January 2022 before joining Nottingham Forest a year later in a deal eventually worth £15 million.
But that’s the view of the Telegraph’s Luke Edwards, reporting on Newcastle’s plight on Thursday night.
Newcastle are said to “believe Premier League spending rules prevent them from splitting the ‘big six'”, due to “new rules restricting sponsorship deals linked to club owners”.
The combined losses in their accounts since the Saudi royal family’s Public Investment Fund bought the club amount to £105 million.
To balance this, it is suggested that Newcastle could sell one of their key players, namely Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes or Sven Botman.
That could interest Liverpool, of course, as Edwards previously reported for the Telegraph that the Reds had inquired about the midfielder’s availability last season.
At the time, they, along with Chelsea, were told that the Brazilian was “not for sale at any price” and he signed a new long-term contract, but the situation appears to have changed.
Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales told reporters upon the release of the club’s latest accounts that they could consider “players on the move” to comply with profit and sustainability rules.
Eales used the example of Liverpool selling Philippe Coutinho for £142m in 2018, and spending almost the same amount on both Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, as a way to improve and amortize payments over a longer period.
“If you sell a player for 50 million pounds and bring in an identical one for 50 million pounds, with the same salary, but you amortize the player you are bringing in over the five years, that is only 10 million pounds a year,” he explained.
“So you are creating a £40m headroom. If you are changing players, you create more room for maneuver.”
He added: “Every player has a price… if we are going to get to where we want to go, sometimes you need to trade your players.”
There is no confirmation that Liverpool would renew their interest in Guimaraes next summer, but it would certainly be an attractive move as Thiago heads for the exit.
Unfortunately for Newcastle, even with the infinite wealth of their new owners, clubs can no longer simply spend at will to get to the top, and the crackdown on Manchester City is proof of that.
