‘When you spend millions...’ - Patrick Vieira makes Newcastle United spending claim

Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira believes Newcastle United’s transfer spending has propelled them into Champions League contention.

The Magpies have spent £210million on new signings since the Public Investment of Saudi Arabia acquired the club in October 2021.

And since then, Eddie Howe’s side have undergone an incredible transformation - going from relegation to top four contenders.

Indeed, the owners’ ambition is no secret and Vieira, whose Palace side held United to a goalless draw on Saturday, reckons the money spent has helped quicken up their progress.

“When you spend millions you move faster to where you want to be,” said the former Arsenal midfielder. Of course, they are doing really well, they have a really strong team, that’s why I’m really pleased we managed to get a point.

“They’re competing for top three, top four, and the way they build the team is to be in the Champions League. For us I’m really pleased with what we showed today and the point that we take.”

Howe’s men struggled to break down Palace for the third time this campaign, with all three meetings ending in 0-0 draws.

It wasn’t necessarily Palace’s intention to sit back on home turf last night but their approach was a compliment to Newcastle - says Vieira.

“It is a natural consequence [to defend], this is a quality team,” the Frenchman added.

“We struggled in the first half because in the midfield they created an overload and we were quite late to put pressure on the ball, there was too much distance between Edouard and our back four and that allowed them to play between the lines.

“In the second half we were a little bit more compact, we asked Jordan [Ayew] and Ebs [Eze] to be a little bit more central and to make it more difficult for them. The quality of the squad that they have it was going to be challenging for us.”