For several years at St James’ Park, Mike Ashley and the tedious blue print that comes with him has insisted that we only ever buy and keep players of a suitable age.
This has meant the signing of young talents under the age of 26 and new contracts rarely being given to players entering the latter years of their career.
Rafa Benitez clearly had real issues with this policy, with him being unable to sign Salomon Rondon permanently, having to move heaven and earth to get a £4m deal sanctioned for Federico Fernandez and fail to tie Mo Diame down to a new deal – with the club reportedly unwilling to offer the ‘two year-deal’ he wanted.
In comes Steve Bruce and Mike Ashely’s approach to such matters appears to have changed slightly.
Not only was the NUFC boss allowed to sign Danny Rose in January – a player approaching his 30’s on ‘top six’ wages – but he’s convinced Ashley to hand new deals to THREE senior players at Newcastle United, with Jonjo Shelvey (28), Matt Ritchie (30) and Federico Fernandez (31!) all signing extensions over the past week.
I still get a strong feeling we’ll continue to take risks on young talents with ‘potential’ in the transfer market, with any new striker signed this summer likely to be a European import who could go either way, not a proven Premier League striker who’s guaranteed to score 10-15 a season, but it seems Bruce is certainly getting more out of Ashley than Benitez did.
Is this because he’s a ‘yes man’ who generally agrees to toe the line? Or because he doesn’t challenge the NUFC owner like Rafa Benitez did?
Who knows, but at a time where Mike Ashley gets very little right, I’m delighted to see us keep a hold of Federico Fernandez in particular – a player I previously feared would be allowed to leave on a free this summer because he was ‘too old’.
Or he is signing them at that age purely to save splashing out….Fernandes is decent and a good back up at very least but the other two should be back up players only or moved on. love Ritchie for his enthusiasm and spirit and Jonjo for his quality of passing…Unfortunately Shelvey is too imobile and dosent track back which is no good for this league..
v(Quote)
Seriously lad, WTF is wrong with you? Rose is a loan. New contracts for existing players mean no new signings or outlays needed to replace them. Get a grip.
sickandtired(Quote)
Rose is a higher profile / higher wage loan signing then Rafa will have ever got.
But that wasn’t my main point, it was more the fact three senior players have been given new deals – something he never seemed open to do when Rafa was around.
As for him doing this so we don’t need any new signings, I think that’s a pretty ridiculous claim. Why on earth would we want to replace one of our best defenders in Fernandez?
As for Shelvey and Ritchie, one has shown some great form this season (a box to box midfielder will still be signed IMO) and the other is an experienced pro who still offers a lot both on and off the pitch.
I’m not suddenly saying Ashley is a good owner, but if you think us signing the likes of Fernandez up to a new deal so ridiculous, I’d question what’s wrong with you, not me..
Olly Hawkins(Quote)