Newcastle United issue lengthy statement following transfer criticism

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The club have recruited just one player from midfielder Joe Willock this summer. Willock joined the club after the club struck a deal worth more than € 20million with Arsenal.

United’s failure to sign more players into the window angered fans and disappointed head coach Steve Bruce. Bruce had wanted to loan Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury on loan, but the late talks came to naught.

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And the winless club, which incurred costs for Florian Lejeunes’ move to Alaves, and selling costs from Adam Armstrongs for the move to Southampton, released a lengthy unattributed statement following criticism from supporters about his approach to the summer window.

Neither Bruce nor Lee Charnley have spoken publicly since the window closed.

It read: Newcastle United want to provide fans with an update on the approach taken for the summer 2021 transfer window.

Our commitment to being managed in a sustainable manner, which ensures the financial viability of the club, goes on for a long time. This does not come at the expense of ambition and is based on the fundamental principle that we will spend what we have.

The money generated each year from daytime and non-daytime activities, as well as transfer fees received from player sales, determine how much is available to spend. This concerns not only the expenses of the first team playing the team, but also all other areas of the club. Simply put, there is a pot of money and spending in one area reduces the amount available to others.

In a normal year, our operating model would generate sufficient funds to allow us to add one or two quality additions to our first team, as well as to invest in other areas. This approach takes time and requires careful management and long-term planning, ensuring that we are spending the money we generate wisely for the benefit of the club.

The last two years have been difficult, with Covid-19 having a considerable impact on club finances and therefore on the amount of money we have to spend. Internally, all parties have long known the budgetary parameters within which we operate.

Ahead of the summer transfer window and having had a significant impact following his arrival on loan in January 2021, Joe Willock has been identified as the clubs’ main target.

Once it was confirmed that the player would be available on a permanent deal, a collaborative decision was made to pursue this option. All parties were aware of the implications of further consolidating the squad, with the collective opinion being that securing Joe Willock was the right priority. There was a common understanding that other additions to the playing squad would be heavily influenced by player swaps, both in terms of available funds and space on the squad.

The deal to bring Joe Willock to the club was officially made on Friday August 13, 2021 and we are more than happy to have it secured.

Our preference to pay transfer fees up front, rather than spreading payments out over several years, is well documented. We believe this approach is in the club’s long-term interest, giving them much more certainty and control over their spending in windows and seasons to come.

In negotiating / securing this agreement after Covid-19, we recognized the need to make an exception and, on this occasion, spread the transfer fee over several installments. We did it this summer to secure a player who we know makes us stronger and whom our head coach has been unequivocal in his desire to sign.

Since the summer of 2019, the club has signed nine permanent contracts and loaned five players. Our net spend over this period is approximately $ 120 million * ($ 160 million spent on players and $ 40 million received from sales). We have kept our commitment to spend what we have, and indeed, through our activities this summer, we have spent more to achieve our primary goal. To suggest otherwise is misleading and to claim that money has been taken out of the club is totally false.

For context, this summer, Sky Sports reported that Newcastle United’s net spending was the tenth-highest in the Premier League. The club have retained their best players despite the obvious financial difficulties.

Having finished last season in 12th place in the Premier League and in the top six in the form table over the last nine matches, the club at all levels maintain strong confidence in their current squad. We have a talented and committed group of players who have shown that they are fully capable of delivering and we ask all of our loyal supporters to support their team as we are stronger together.

The statement adds: net expenses include assumptions about conditional transfer fees (often dependent on player appearances / league status, etc.) Likewise, not all club dues have necessarily been cashed out. this day.

Put simply, 120 million is our best estimate of how much the club have made or are committed to making as a result of the deals made in the five transfer windows since summer 2019, which is not the same. thing than the actual inflows and outflows during that same period. period. This approach reflects the reality that transactions made in any transfer window impact the clubs’ daily cash balances over a period of time.

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