‘Disappointing’ - Newcastle United squad break silence on FFP rules after £35m transfer blunder
Dan Burn has admitted Newcastle United players were gutted when Elliot Anderson was sold earlier this year.
Toon chiefs hit panic stations ahead of the June 30 deadline for FFP/PSR restrictions. Newcastle were at risk of breaching the allowable £105million loss over the years, with a last-minute exodus saving their embarrassment.
Homegrown talent Anderson was sold for a reported £35million while Brighton stumped up £33million to sign Yankuba Minteh, another talented youngster. However, Nottingham Forest - who the Magpies play this weekend - also received £20million for backup goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos as part of the Anderson deal - putting Newcastle’s net gain at £15million.
The Whitley Bay native has since gone on to excel in the opening 10 games of the Premier League season. Reports suggested he was close to earning a call-up to Lee Carsley’s final England squad for the upcoming double-header against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
Speaking to NewcastleWorld, Burn conceded the players were "disappointed" by Anderson’s forced exit but is happy the 22-year-old is impressing at Forest. He said: “That’s the rules so it was obviously disappointing from a team point of view to lose him. I don’t think anyone wanted to see him go and it’s obviously disappointing to lose another Geordie as well but I’m very happy for him.
“In hindsight, it’s probably helped him, we had a lot of competition in the position that he wanted to play and he’s been able to have more game time at Forest. I think he’s proven why he’s been such a good player. The way he has performed at Forest when we played them (in the Carabao Cup), I thought he was brilliant. So really happy for him.”
Burn has also been pleased by former Newcastle striker Chris Wood’s renaissance at the City Ground. The 32-year-old has bagged eight goals this season, with 24 strikes in 52 appearances since moving from the Magpies.
“I’m really, really happy for him,” Burn added about his ex-teammate. “Woody first and foremost is a great person, he was a great teammate when he was here so I think it’s great that he’s finally getting the recognition that he deserves.
“He got a hat-trick the last time so hopefully we will be better than that. But you want to test yourselves against the best players in the league. Woody’s on fire and is going to be hard to control so it’s a big challenge for us.”