Now that the summer transfer window has shut, Newcastle United fans will feel both very satisfied with our activity, as well as relieved that the window is indeed closed for another few months.
For as good as the latter few weeks of the window were, it could not have got off to a worse start for us, and it was shaping up to be an all time bad window.
Target after target was snapped up by the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City, and we were often left wondering just what more could we besides offering exciting attacking football and Champions League nights.
And now one of these targets has revealed for the first time why I chose not to make the move to the North East during the summer, and it could be a big obstacle we have to overcome if we want to secure future signings.
Joao Pedro on why he picked Chelsea over Newcastle
Joao Pedro has enjoyed a strong start to his Chelsea career, winning the Club World Cup and scoring some big goals as the Blues remain unbeaten in the Premier League.
And there was a point this summer where we eyed up the Brazilian to be a fantastic versatile option in attack for us, to which we were prepared to pay big money for the want-away Brazilian.
But instead he opted for Stamford Bridge over St James’ Park, confirming in a new interview what many of us expected as to why he chose to move to Chelsea over ourselves and other clubs.
Having started his stint in England at Watford, Pedro clearly became quite comfortable living in London, telling the Evening Standard this was a key factor behind his decision to join Chelsea over Newcastle:
“When I was in Brighton, I was missing London a little bit.”
“I had a chance to move to another club (Newcastle( this summer but I chose Chelsea because it’s in London, it’s a great club and I knew in my head it was the right move.”
It’s perhaps a similar situation to what we saw a couple of seasons ago, where we found ourselves battling with Spurs to sign the recently-relegated James Maddison.
Despite having just qualified for the Champions League, whilst Spurs missing out in Europe entirely, the English midfielder opted for the city life at the North London club.
What can Newcastle do in future windows to tempt players?
It’s a harsh reality check for us that players would rather join a team on par with or below us in the table to simply live in a more favourable location like London and Manchester.
Even with the likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali making drastic moves from Lyon and Milan and becoming enamoured with the North East, it’s clearly not every player’s cup of tea.
So how does the club possibly combat this? Perhaps the only solution is to continue strengthening its hand elsewhere. Champions League football is still the ultimate goal for a player: just look at Yoane Wissa and how desperate he was to join us to achieve that. The more regularly we can qualify for the UCL, the more a player may be willing to ‘overlook’ living in the North East.
I’d say its a good test – a barometer for the kind of character we want/not. Anyone wanting a London life will likely spend many nights in clubs & parties, chasing women, appearing at big events etc. It catches up with your performance on the pitch. We know Pedro’s history regarding that. Also look at what it did to Trips for almost a year (including a divorce).
Pedro’s scored a few goals at the start of his Chelsea career, only the 2 vs PSG in CWC final would be considered crucial. There are many fish in the pond & this wasn’t a make or break one that got away. That’s true even if he scores 25 this season.
Reach a Champions League SF/Final & all the players in western Europe will find you acceptable if not desirable. They all watch the latter rounds. Location won’t matter then.
P(Quote)
He said NUFC was so small he couldn’t see it
Size Matters(Quote)
Wow we aren’t getting plastic Chelsea ‘fans’ on here now too are we 😆, we have just started getting shot of the pitiful Lpool lot!
Could be another obsessed mackem I suppose….but semi literacy suggests not
The only big thing about Chelsea is the financial doping supplied by Putin’s mate, the gangster, before that they weren’t even in the top few clubs in their own city
East Stand(Quote)
“It’s a harsh reality check for us that players would rather join a team on par with or below us in the table to simply live in a more favourable location like London and Manchester.”
Some points regarding this:
I’d bet Chelsea paid more making location a scape goat answer.
We finished below Chelsea in the league.. that’s not on par.
We may have finished above Manchester United but again, it’s not really a location thing. It’s that they can pay 2/3 times what we can pay a player. Not to mention, we’re a minnow club compared to Chelsea and Manchester United. It’s ok for us to recognise we’re miles below these clubs in recent success. We’re aiming to maybe catch up to Chelsea. There’s almost no chance of us ever catching up to the success of Manchester United but that shouldn’t stop us trying
Hazz(Quote)
Unfortunately until we can pay the wages that the likes of Chelsea can offer,we will be a less tempting option for most players,we just have to keep closing the gap commercially and the rest will follow,it will take time,but frustrating as it is remember how far we have come since Ashley and his cronies were in charge
Colin Reid(Quote)
Definitely a smb it’s hilarious that they have been fortunate to have played early and beaten two of the worst teams in in the league and they think they’re in with a shout at the title 😂
Let’s see where they are by Xmas I’m sure as they love seagulls and blue pop that they’ll be few and far between on here by then.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
Reality is Some players not all
The media like to
Peddle a picture that all players rather choose somewhere else ., we have a team full of international
players who chose Newcastle instead of others .. nick could have gone to Munich whilst elanga and wissa only wanted Newcastle .. .. good luck to Pedro he chose what’s good for him
Mike(Quote)