Speaking on our transfer policy, Newcastle technical director Dan Ashworth has revealed that we continue to ‘walk away’ from deals if they ‘get too pricey’, preferring to pursue a plan B or leave a position unfilled opposed to paying inflated fees..
Following the PIF takeover, teams are aware of the funds likely to be made available to us and are adding a ‘Newcastle tax’ to their asking price, believing our Saudi-backed owners will pay a premium to get who we want.
This has added another challenge to our scouting team, who are working to secure young talents and avoid making overpriced, big-name signings with inflated egos.
Ashworth has made it clear that ‘we have a valuation’ of certain players who we would like to attract and we are willing to ‘move on’ to someone else if the price becomes ‘too high’:
“I think the important thing is you’ve got more than one option. You’ve got the ability to walk away from a deal if it gets too pricey.
“We have a valuation in the market of what that player is worth to us and if that deal goes too high or is unattainable, we move on to the next player or we don’t fill that hole.
“That’s where Steve Nickson and the recruitment department come in and it’s about making sure we’ve got a list of targets that we feel can take us to the level we want to get to.”
After years of underwhelming transfer windows, it’s refreshing to see that we have a bold strategy for the market and will continue to search for cut-price deals similar to the Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier moves.
