Chelsea transfer news as the Magpies have been taught how they can avoid financial fines by imitating one of the Blues’ tactics.
Former Crystal Palace chairman and radio presenter Simon Jordan believes Newcastle United should approach the transfer market in the same way Chelsea has following the arrival of American owner Todd Boehly in order to combat Financial Fair Play (FFP) concerns.
Despite having the Premier League’s richest owners in the form of the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Magpies have yet to truly splash the cash on big name signings, instead opting for smart moves for players like Nick Pope and Bruno Guimaraes, both of whom have been crucial to their success over the last 18 months.
However, there are still concerns about FFP and how much wiggle room Eddie Howe has to bolster his squad during the January transfer window, with the Toon boss admitting earlier this week that he couldn’t rule out a move for any of his key players due to financial spending rules.
It comes as the Blues continued to spend big under new boss Mauricio Pochettino, bringing in Moises Caicedo for £115 million and Christopher Nkunku for £52 million over the summer. Many have questioned how Chelsea has avoided FFP fines despite their steady spending, but the large sales of Mason Mount to Manchester United, Kai Havertz to Arsenal, and Mateo Kovacic to Manchester City have all meant that they’ve built a considerable buffer that they can work around.
As a result, Jordan feels Newcastle should do the same, claiming they have up to £60 million in ‘allowable modifications’ that they could utilize to construct their own buffer. “If Newcastle’s agenda is to build and compete with the top teams, they’re hardly going to sell their best players!” he stated on talkSPORT.
“They’ll do what Chelsea has done, which is look at assets that may not take you to the promised land but do have intrinsic value in the football club.”
“Like Chelsea did with Mason Mount and Trevoh Chalobah with academy players.” If they sell [Alexander] Isak, Bruno [Guimaraes], or Sven Botman, it will be because they have a crazy offer, similar to how Manchester City sold Leroy Sane [to Bayern Munich in 2020 for £44m].
“I don’t think Newcastle will sell their best players.” They can only boost their earnings by performing well on the field. They have that plus an additional £50 million from the Champions League this year.
“As far as losses are concerned I guarantee you they will have between £50m and £60m of allowable adjustments which will take them underneath the Financial Fair Play [threshold] which looks like they’re already breaching for the last three years.”
