Just a few days ago, Paul Merson told us Newcastle fans we shouldn’t get too carried away about a Saudi takeover – insisting other big clubs would still beat us to top signings should we look to splash the cash.
Today, the Sky Sports pundit has backed us to make a move for £60m-rated star and key Manchester United target Jack Grealish.
You couldn’t make it up, yet it’s something we should come to expect from Merson, who has a habit of not making a great deal of sense when it comes to football matters.
Here’s what he’s had to say, with him laughably suggesting that we have ‘no chance’ with Kevin De Bruyne – as if we were expecting City to sell and us to attract him!
“You’d have no chance with Kevin De Bruyne or Bruno Fernandes, but I would sign Jack Grealish,”
“When I watch Newcastle play, they haven’t got enough brave footballers.
“I played against Newcastle many times, and it was always keeping the crowd quiet. For me Jack Grealish would tick the boxes.
“One he would entertain and two he would like to get on the ball.
“Definitely, I’d take Grealish.”
You might think ‘wait a second, isn’t Aston Villa’s star man a realistic target?’.
The fact he’s at a side battling to stay up suggests yes, but with a powerhouse like Manchester United said to be in talks over a £60m deal which would see him earn £170,000 per week, it hardly fits in with the comments Paul Merson was making literally 48 hours ago:
“For a start, they are not going to be able to attract the very top drawer players for a variety of reasons. If there’s a really top grade player who is going to make the kind of difference needed, there will be other more ‘attractive’ clubs in for them.
“It would take tons and tons of money to put Newcastle up with the elite. Liverpool are set, Man City have got fortunes and the likes of Manchester United will always be a powerhouse.
“To get up in that sort of company isn’t a realistic dream. “They are a million miles from that great Newcastle side of Shearer, Ginola, Ferdinand and Batty – a million miles. A team that, incidentally, still didn’t win anything.
“So, why expect new owners, who are clearly astute businessmen, to throw money at it left, right and centre to see an improvement of a few league places?”
Oh Paul..
Maybe we could attract a player like Grealish if the Saudis act quickly, appointing a top manager and releasing immediate funds. But Merson can’t tell us to calm down, get real and manage our expectations one day, then urge us to beat Manchester United to a £60m signing the next!
As a footballer, Merson was quality for a few seasons, until the drink and drugs got to him. As a football pundit, he is quite funny, often unintentionally and that is the best endorsement of that particular “skillset” of his that I can give him.
Just another Newcastle-bashing “Celebrity ” right out of the
“I know Everything, because I used to own a Premier League Club “Jordan – School of inciteful football observations.
Kevin Lancaster(Quote)