According to the Daily Star, Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is ready to hand the club’s next manager – whoever that may be – a transfer kitty of £100m following the sale of Ayoze Perez to Leicester City.
Indeed, this breaks down into an initial transfer budget of £60m with the added £30m from Perez’s sale to Leicester (BBC) and a potential sale of Isaac Hayden for around the £15m mark, as the Magpies look to build for life after Rafa Benitez.
Interestingly, the same report also claims Lee Charnley has narrowed down a list of potential managers to ‘four or five names’ including Sean Dyche, Roberto Martinez and Mikel Arteta and hopes to have a new boss in place for when the Toon Army fly out to China for a pre-season competition next Thursday.
Following Benitez’s departure at the end of June, a number of Newcastle fans protested outside St. James’ Park and club legend Alan Shearer described the situation as a ‘shambles’ on Twitter, so it’s clear that there is somewhat of a negative mood on Tyneside right now.
While Ashley’s lack of investment in the club he has owned since 2007 has caused the likes of Henry Winter to call for a new backer to take the club on from the Sports Direct mogul, Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards did suggest those close to Ashley didn’t believe a reported takeover from the Middle East was likely to happen.
Still, Miguel Almiron did arrive in the January transfer window at club-record expense and, back in 2015, the Magpies were one of the highest net spenders in Europe when Ashley backed Steve McClaren with the signings of Florian Thauvin, Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic, so spending isn’t without precedence under his watch, even if it is not all that regular.
With Perez gone and Salomon Rondon currently back with parent club West Bromwich Albion, investment in the frontline is seemingly a must this summer, with a side who scored just 42 times last season losing two of their most potent attackers. The former scored 12 times while the latter netted 11, after all, with central defender Fabian Schar the next highest scorer with 4 goals.
If the reports are correct, the new boss may have the chance to really transform the club’s attack. Clearly, the post-Rafa Benitez era has got off to a sour start judging by the mood at the club for the reasons previously given, but the new man might have the chance to really strengthen.
Newcastle fans, what do you make of the £100m transfer kitty rumours? Let us know and comment below!
