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Simon Jordan explains why Newcastle United fans shouldn’t be demanding Neymar signs on £100m a year – Honestly

2 years ago
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Simon Jordan says that Neymar will not be moving to Newcastle United.

Quite a revelation from the former Crystal Palace owner…

Simon Jordan stating that Newcastle United fans shouldn’t be demanding the club go for Neymar and that NUFC paying the Brazilian ‘£100m a year’ isn’t the ‘blueprint’ to be followed if you want success at St James Park.

Yes, I am just so tired of the fact that every single Newcastle supporter I speak to, says it will be a disgrace if we don’t sign Neymar this summer…

Back to reality.

I don’t know a single Newcastle United fan who thinks our club will make an approach for Neymar (the Brazilian superstar pictured above with Neymar), never mind actually sign him.

This conversation is so removed from reality it is just ridiculous.

Yet it very much fits into a pattern of journalists and pundits linking Newcastle United with Neymar, Mbappe, Haaland, Kane and so on, just so that then they and others can follow it by laughing at the very idea of these players moving to St James Park, whilst also making out that somehow the idea of such a thing happening, came originally from Newcastle supporters.

The only Newcastle United fans that I see talking about Neymar are doing so to have a laugh, they are being ironic, they are NOT in any shape or form saying that it is even a thing, never mind that it might actually happen.

In answer to this no doubt, you will get certain journalists and pundits and rival fans, who will then point to a Tweet from a ‘Newcastle fan’ on Twitter, saying Neymar definitely coming to the Toon or whatever. Well, you can get Twitter to ‘prove’ anything if you look hard enough. Just because you find one tweet from the million+ Newcastle United fans on Twitter (the official NUFC account is followed by 2.1m, so I think safe to assume at least half are actual fans…) that doesn’t mean the other 999,999 of us also believe that.

Simon Jordan talks about Neymar and Newcastle United but it is quite obvious that this kind of player, an ageing superstar in the real elite (certainly when it comes to wages!) group of names, has never ever been the type of signing Eddie Howe and the NUFC owners will try to make.

In January, Newcastle brought in up and coming 24 year old Bruno Guimaraes who had made one start for Brazil, plus three tried and tested Premier League solid signings, plus grasped the no-brainer chance to sign England full-back Kieran Trippier for a bargain initial £12m fee – the player desperate to come back to England for family reasons and having previously played under Eddie Howe.

This transfer window, it has been officially confirmed by 22 year old Sven Botman that Newcastle are trying to sign him, whilst Reims have also confirmed that they have accepted an NUFC bid for 19 year old Hugo Ekitike with now everybody waiting to see whether the striker says yes. The Mail also report that talks are ongoing for Newcastle to make 26 year old Matt Targett a permanent signing.

Very much missing are bids for 30 year old elite superstars who would want £100m a year as Simon Jordan suggests…

Quite ironic that whilst Newcastle United are doing what they are doing, targeting younger on the rise players who COULD be potential superstars of the future, a club like Aston Villa and manager Steven Gerrard are doing the opposite and are signing older more short-term ‘name’ players such as Carlos turns 30 during this coming season, Digne (turns 29 in July) and Coutinho (turns 30 in eight days time). Yet, funnily enough, nobody in the media (from what I can see) is describing their transfer activity in any kind of negative way, regarding being so short-term and financially so risky – players arguably all with their best days behind them.

Simon Jordan speaking to Talksport:

“Neymar isn’t going to Newcastle, so it is a silly conversation.

“Newcastle aren’t in that position.

“You know, Neymar is a global superstar and you know, to my consternation at times, because I think sometimes he is the embodiment of the modern day footballer, with a lot of talent and a lack of regard for the opportunity they are given.

“He isn’t going to land in Newcastle, so they may as well keep their powder dry.

“Now of course, I hope that at some point Newcastle fans don’t take this as a castigation of their football club and when he is 57 years of age he comes and signs for them and I get proven wrong.

“But the bottom line is that Newcastle need to build, you know.

“I am a great fan of Newcastle fans, some of them, not all of them.

“I’m a great admirer of the club, going back to my friendship with Sir John Hall, Dougie Hall and the late, great, Freddie Shepherd.

“And Newcastle have done remarkably well and I have proven to be wrong in my evaluation.

“I always thought they would stay up but I didn’t think that they would build as quickly, to get themselves out of problems.

“It might show you how poor the bottom of the Premier League is, or it might show you how fantastically well they have done.

“Their buying policy was brilliant.

“As people know, I’m no great fan of the ownership model, I’m no great admirer of Amanda Staveley….it is simply because I look at the whole regime purchase, the whole raison d’etre (reason or justification for existence) behind it and I have trouble with it.

“I don’t have trouble with Newcastle United football club, or Newcastle United fans.

“I have trouble with the way football is going and unfortunately Newcastle are caught up in that.

“But to go to the original question, I think Newcastle will build properly, will build with decent players who come in at the right times.

“And I very much doubt it will be Neymar and neither should you want it to be.

“That will make you a Galacticos.

“And really what you want to be is a football club that builds.

“You don’t see Liverpool going out and buying global superstars, they go and buy really good players.

“From Southampton like Mane, Salah who Chelsea hadn’t wanted at one time, they take players that aren’t on other people’s lips as being, you know, iconic footballers, and they make them into iconic footballers.

“And that is what Newcastle should want to do.

“And Manchester City were similar.

“That’s the model you should be following, not the early 200s Galacticos, with people like Beckham rocking up to Real Madrid to give it all showbiz.

“Newcastle want to build a side that can win something.

“And I’m not sure digging out people like Neymar and paying them £100m a year is the blueprint.”

***Funnily enough, when talking about all the people he admires and respect etc from Newcastle United’s past, Simon Jordan ‘forgets’ about how he used to back Mike Ashley so often and at the same time ridicule Newcastle fans, the same with Steve Bruce. The two people responsible for the complete shambles that Eddie Howe and the new NUFC owners inherited.

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