Alan Shearer doesn't hold back on 'poor' £250m Newcastle United decision - 'it's hurt them'
Alan Shearer believes Newcastle United’s summer transfer business has set the club back.
Alan Shearer bemoaned Newcastle United’s summer transfer business following their FA Cup exit to Manchester City.
Newcastle missed out on a place in the last eight of the competition after losing 3-1 to Pep Guardiola’s side at St James’ Park on Saturday night.
Harvey Barnes fired the Magpies in front in the 18th minute but they soon fell away as Man City took full control of the game.
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Savinho levelled near the end of the first half before an Omar Mamoursh double put the game out of United’s reach by the hour-mark.
Manchester City ‘battered’ Newcastle United - Alan Shearer
“Dismantled? I can’t argue with that,” Shearer told the Rest is Football Podcast. “Man City were the better team and they showed the levels that the rest, like Newcastle, somehow have got to catch.
“I looked at the team they put out and thought ‘yep, we’ve got an even better chance here’ but to be fair they were... particularly second-half. I mean, last 10 minutes of the first-half, City were better and Newcastle never had a sniff or a kick in the second-half.
“Man City battered us in the second-half, so can’t argue with that unfortunately, as much as it hurts.”
Alan Shearer bemoans Newcastle United’s summer transfer business
While Shearer had zero complaints over the result, he felt it highlighted a deeper problem - the club’s summer transfer business.
A £250million spree saw Anthony Elanga, Malick Thiaw, Jacob Ramsey, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa join permanently, while Aaron Ramsdale arrived on loan. But only one player has been a success, according to Shearer.
“[Omar] Marmoush, Savinho, [Antoine] Semenyo, I look at their recruitment and I look at Newcastle’s recruitment and there’s no doubt it’s hurt Newcastle what they did last summer - it has set them back.
“How they try and recover from that this summer is going to be huge for them but most of the players that they’ve bought haven’t worked, Malick Thiaw being the exception and Jacob Ramsey a little bit but that has hurt Newcastle without a doubt.
“He [Eddie Howe] persists in playing Woltemade in midfield and he’s not a midfielder, he can’t play in central midfield. But I also think he’ll look at it and think Elanga hasn’t done enough, Wissa, when he came on, didn’t do enough. It’s not just Woltemade, I don’t want to be seen as picking on anybody.
“But the recruitment has been poor in the summer.”