It is a something of a nerve-wracking experience being a Newcastle United supporter at present amid all the chaos of Profit and Sustainability rules.
The Magpies are desperately looking to raise finds through player sales ahead of today’s PSR deadline for Premier League clubs and have explored multiple avenues in order to ensure they have complied with the financial rules.
One option saw Newcastle offer Anthony Gordon to Liverpool, with Jarell Quansah heading in the opposite direction, and similar conversations are currently ongoing with other clubs. Elliot Anderson is expected to head to Nottingham Forest while winger Yankuba Minteh is Brighton-bound to raise additional funds.
The stresses of modern-day football are surely being felt by Eddie Howe as a result, who is preparing to bid farewell to players one would imagine he had no plans of otherwise losing. Contrast his worries with Jurgen Klopp, who has embarked upon a fun-filled trip around Europe with wife Ulla since leaving Liverpool.
First spotted at the Champions League final at Wembley, Klopp has since attended a Taylor Swift concert at Anfield and Germany’s Euro 2024 opener. His latest event has seen him taking in Tennis in Mallorca, where he has now spending his time after stepping away from football management.
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It became increasingly apparent towards the end of Klopp’s reign how certain aspects of football were beginning to push him over the edge, one of which was the extortionate spending of some European clubs. The German made a point of reiterating throughout his reign that the Reds would live within their means, even if others chose not to.
Chelsea and Manchester City have been two of the worst offenders for lucrative outlays in recent years, though it became clear in 2021 another Premier League club would soon be giving them a run for their money. Indeed, the takeover of Newcastle by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) made the Magpies the richest club in the world and soon led to marquee signings such as Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes.
Weighing in on what Newcastle’s takeover would mean for other teams, Klopp remarked at the time: “What will it mean for football? A few months ago we had a massive argument – issue – the whole football world, with 12 clubs trying to build a Super League. Rightly so. It didn’t happen, but this is kind of creating a super team if you want. It’s pretty much the same; guaranteed spots in the Champions League in a few years’ time. Financial Fair Play nowadays, nobody knows exactly if it still exists or not.
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“Newcastle fans will love it but for the rest of us it just means there is a new superpower in Newcastle,” he said. “We cannot avoid that. Money cannot buy everything but over time they will have enough money to make a few wrong decisions, then make the right decisions, and then they will be where they want to be in the long term. Everybody knows that, and obviously the Premier League, Richard Masters, thought: ‘Yeah, let’s give it a go.’”
Doubling down on this stance one year later in October 2022, Klopp added: “What can Liverpool do? We cannot act like them (Newcastle and Manchester City. It is not possible. Not possible. It is just clear, and again, you know the answer. There are three clubs in world football (City, PSG and Newcastle) who can do what they want financially. It’s legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want.”
Comments made by then Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth suggesting there was “no ceiling” to the club’s ambitions further riled up Klopp, who said in February of last year: “I heard now that, at Newcastle, somebody (Dan Ashworth) said, ‘there is no ceiling for this club’. Yes! He is right. He is absolutely right. There is no ceiling for Newcastle. Congratulations, but other clubs have ceilings.”
The reality of recent days has shown how Newcastle, backed by their Saudi riches, have been left in the same precarious position as Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Everton by being forced to cash in on their prized assets.
Clubs hoping to follow in the footsteps of Manchester City by spending their way to success now face further barriers in their way to reach the top. Klopp, who for so long took issue with teams taking a care-free approach to capital will not be around to reap the rewards of the stricter measures halting the progress of Newcastle’s masterplan.