Newcastle United Implement Major Transfer Shift Following £12m PSR Wake-Up Call
Newcastle United Have Historically Struggled with Player Sales, But Have Been More Active in the Transfer Market This Month
How do you eventually ‘fund a big one,’ as Paul Mitchell puts it? It’s insightful that Newcastle United’s sporting director referenced Liverpool’s ‘good learnings’ a few months ago as part of his plan to create a ‘sustainable model’ at St James’ Park.
While Liverpool may have started from a stronger position, the Premier League leaders raised £40m from selling Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg to Brentford last summer.
Mitchell pointed to these examples as he discussed the steps Newcastle needs to take moving forward.
“We’ve got to balance out the aggregate,” Mitchell said. “Right now, it’s like 100 to zero, and we need to find a market position where both sides contribute and support each other, because every other club operates this way.”
This focus on recruitment was one of the main reasons Mitchell was appointed last summer.
Historically, Newcastle has struggled with selling players; the club averaged just £12m in profit from player sales over the previous three years, prior to last summer.
For comparison, the top six clubs averaged £156m, and even the other 13 Premier League teams generated over £60m.
Looking closer at the data, between January 2020 and January 2024, Newcastle only generated significant income from selling Chris Wood and Allan Saint-Maximin.
This lack of player sales almost led the club into a Financial Fair Play (FFP) issue in June, narrowly avoiding a breach thanks to last-minute sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh.
Senior club figures have emphasized that Newcastle never wants to be in such a situation again.
These near-misses help explain why the club walked away from a deal for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi last summer.
Additionally, Eddie Howe recently stated that the Magpies ‘needed’ to sell Miguel Almiron to meet FFP regulations, and the club might end the window without a senior signing, even if Lloyd Kelly departs.
On one hand, Kelly leaving in the mid-season window would leave Newcastle short in a particular position.
On the other hand, could the club be tempted to sell if Juventus makes an acceptable offer for a fringe player in the current FFP environment?
Here is where football logic and business logic intersect. Why? Because Kelly provides valuable depth in two positions, but he’s made only four league starts for Newcastle.
Three of those appearances were at left-back before Lewis Hall claimed the first-team spot.
Although Sven Botman was injured for the first five months of the season, Kelly only played centre-back in the Premier League when Dan Burn was suspended.
That solitary outing ended in a forgettable performance, where Kelly lost Tomas Soucek for West Ham’s opener in Newcastle’s surprising 2-0 defeat in November.
Should Kelly leave, Newcastle would be left short of options, especially if the club is unable to make any reinforcements.
However, this could mark the start of a new era for Financial Fair Play. In this era, trading players has become a crucial aspect of club strategy.
