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Analysis
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In one form or another, Newcastle have dominated the discourse around this summer’s transfer window. Alongside the €101 million the Geordie club have spent on Anthony Elanga, Malick Thiaw and the loan deal to bring Aaron Ramsdale to the club (fee of €4.6m), the club are now set to complete the signing of Aston Villa talent Jacob Ramsey. According to Sky Sports, Newcastle will pay an initial fee of €45.2m, with an additional €5.8m in add-ons. And the club's potential outgoings hav attracted just as much attention, if not more.
Indeed, the club have also been at the centre of the biggest transfer saga of the window, involving star striker Alexander Isak’s reported demands to depart the club and move to Liverpool. According to reports in England, Liverpool submitted an offer of around €128m for the Swedish striker, which Newcastle immediately rejected due to their own asking price being much higher. On the one hand this can be seen as an ambitious club hoping to keep a hold of their best player, but on the other it could be seen as Newcastle looking to extract as much value from the potential sale of Isak, to help them balance the books and invest the money elsewhere in the squad. And when we take a look at the club’s activity in the transfer window since they were bought over by the Saudi Public Investment Fund in October 2021, it explains why the St James’s Park side need to make as much money from player sales as they can before they bolster Eddie Howe’s side with more signings.
How much money have Newcastle spent under their Saudi owners?
When we consider that the first transfer window in which Newcastle could act under their new owners was the January window in 2022, Transfermarkt can reveal that in that time the club have spent €606m signing new players, when we include the imminent arrival of Ramsey and his up-front transfer fee of €45.2m. That, naturally, also includes the signing of Isak for €70m, but also other big names like Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and most recently Elanga. However, as we can see in the table above, it pales in comparison to some of the Premier League’s bigger clubs. Among all English clubs, Newcastle’s spending on new players ranks them just seventh, sitting just above West Ham (€569m spent on new players) and around €60m behind English champions Liverpool. But, as we can see, the Saudi-owned club are considerably far behind the likes of both Manchester clubs, while Chelsea seem to be in a league of their own having spent €1.67 billion on new players in that time.
However, as every Newcastle fan will know, the club have to adhere to the league’s strict PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) and while that encompasses far more than just transfer fees, most clubs tend to use the transfer window as a means to balance the books. And it’s here that we can see where the Geordie club are perhaps held back by such limitations. According to Transfermarkt information, Newcastle have spent around €652m on new players, but only brought in €179.8m in player sales in that period of time. Which is considerably less than the likes of Liverpool (€387.7m in player sales), Manchester City (€652m) and Chelsea (€834m). And, in turn, means that the club’s net spend on players in the transfer window stands at €427m.
When we then draw a clear comparison to other English clubs since the 2022 January transfer window, we can see that Newcastle’s net spend in the transfer window stands at €427m (including Ramsey deal). That places them fifth, ahead of Liverpool (€318m) and West Ham (€259m) and still behind the likes of Arsenal (€555m), Tottenham (€559m), Manchester United (€726m) and Chelsea (€838m). However, what’s worth noting here is that while Newcastle were seventh for spending on new players, they’ve moved up to fifth on this table. Which indicates that comparatively speaking, their net spend is higher than their total spend. And, perhaps, that the Geordie club do need to start earning more from player sales before they start spending more money on new players.
