Newcastle United squad rocked by £68m double deal & two behind the scenes departures
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Several players were linked with moves away from St James’ Park as the club risked breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Bruno Guimaraes had a £100million release clause while Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak attracted interest from Liverpool and Chelsea.
The Magpies managed to keep hold of the star trio and raised the funds needed by offloading Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh for a combined £68million to Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion, respectively. Sean Longstaff admitted he and his teammates all feared being sold, telling journalists in Japan “the way it seemed, I think everyone sort of had their price”.
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Behind the scenes, Howe & Co were rocked by two further departures as Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi saw their shares acquired by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and RB Sports & Media at a 85%/15% split. That forced a restructure at the top of the club with Paul Mitchell arriving as sporting director and Darren Eales, who will step down as CEO in the coming months after being diagnosed with a chronic form of blood cancer, handed greater responsibility.
The summer transfer window then proved unsuccessful with Newcastle failing to sign £70million-rated Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi despite weeks of chasing. It meant Howe’s squad failed to welcome a significant signing.
Currently sitting 9th in the Premier League after eight games, Howe admits it has been a challenge getting the harmony.
“I do think it was a difficult summer, as I've said, many times, for lots of different reasons,” said Howe. “It wasn't just one thing, it was a catalogue of things that were always going to make a difference.
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Hide Ad“I always think when you're talking about players, it's very easy to go, 'Well, the players should be able to forget that and just focus on his football'. In an ideal world, yes, of course. But when you have multiple players affected by different things, It becomes harder and the general feel of the squad at the start the season was different to how it has been in previous years.
“Now my job and everyone's job connected with the club is to get sort of that focus absolutely back and the harmony back absolutely where it should be, but I think it's taking us longer than when he initially hoped."
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