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I would be less shocked if Bournemouth pay £30m for a player than if Newcastle United buy anyone

5 years ago
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I often look at Bournemouth now when I visualise what Newcastle United could/should be.

A club that would need five home games worth of fans to fill St James Park.

Yet a club that is now established in the Premier League and tries to be as ambitious as possible.

I often wonder, if the two clubs swapped owners, where could Newcastle United be now?

Yes we all know that matchday revenues doesn’t make up as high a proportion of a club’s revenues as it once did.

However, match attendances and size of fanbase DO still matter.

As well as the extra matchday revenue, the larger the fanbase the more money there then should be generated via sponsorship, merchandise and extra games selected for live TV coverage, as well as other revenue streams.

The reality is though, that under Mike Ashley, Newcastle don’t even match Bournemouth’s ambition, never mind exceed it.

Have a look at what has happened with Bournemouth and their club record transfer since promotion to the Premier League in 2015, as well as their net spend/profit on transfers each season (All stats via Transfermarkt).

2015/16

After promotion, Bournemouth had a net spend of £50m in their first season up, with £12m Benik Afobe their new club record signing.

2016/17

The Cherries had a net spend of £14m with £16m Jordan Ibe their new club record signing.

2017/18

Bournemouth had a net spend of £31m with £20m Nathan Ake their new club record signing.

2018/19

In the summer 2018 window, Bournemouth made defensive midfielder Jefferson Lerma their new £25m club record signing, with a net spend overall of £28m

It is impossible to miss the progression in the club transfer record, Bournemouth accepting that you have to pay the market rate for certain players if you are going to try and improve your team.

I am astounded and sickened when I see journalists/newspapers in the north east agreeing with the Mike Ashley PR line that paying £20m+ for Miguel Almiron and the wages that would go with it, is somehow ‘astronomical’ and somehow should be out of Newcastle’s reach.

No it shouldn’t.

Bournemouth have paid £20m for a central defender (Ake) and now £25m for a defensive midfielder (Lerma), yet Newcastle paying £20m+ for somebody to score and create goals, as Almiron hopefully would, is supposed to be seen as outrageous.

What is outrageous is that Rafa Benitez is still stuck with having to try and ‘compete’, in reality – survive, with free transfers, loans and bargain buys, especially in the attacking half.

Newcastle United needed to spend realistic money on at least a striker and number 10, four transfer windows ago, after promotion in summer 2017. We are still waiting for that to happen.

Sadly, I would hardly blink if I saw Bournemouth had spent £30m on a player this month, yet I would be absolutely stunned if Newcastle bought anybody for over £10m.

Actually, in reality, I would be amazed if a transfer fee is paid for any player in January by Newcastle.

I can only see this having a remote chance of happening, if Salomon Rondon got injured, as even Mike Ashley surely can see that no other Newcastle player is capable of scoring goals on any kind of regular basis.

That’s it folks, we are totally reliant on a 29 year old loan striker who in three previous PL seasons never managed double figures in any of them with West Brom.
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