Newcastle United legend Shay Given has perfectly summed up the mess the Magpies find themselves in this summer, thanks to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Every Premier League club is talking about PSR right now, especially in the aftermath of Nottingham Forest becoming the second team to be docked points this season. They have been deducted four points, and are now in the relegation zone.
For Newcastle United, PSR remains a major problem. It has caused concern behind the scenes, and resulted in the club not being able to sign any reinforcements during the January transfer window – unless they sold someone.
That remains the fear heading into the summer transfer window, with speculation that a big name like Bruno Guimaraes or Alexander Isak might have to leave. Their futures will be up in the air if we miss out on Europe completely, although there is a chance that one of them might have to leave no matter what.
That will then allow Newcastle to spend some serious money, but former Toon goalkeeper Shay Given has explained why that is such a risk.
Shay Given highlights ridiculous ‘risk’ Newcastle might be forced to take
Given has been speaking about Newcastle’s financial situation on 5 Live Sport’s Monday Night Club, as he looks at how the Magpies are ever going to reach the same level as Manchester City.
“How do you catch up?” he asked.
“Now the talk is Guimaraes or maybe an Isak you have to sell for big money, so now you are weakening yourself to take a risk and sign two or three players who may not be as good as Guimaraes or Isak to try and catch up with the likes of Man City.”
PSR is holding Newcastle back
As Given says, it is completely flawed. Bruno could leave for £100million and we would be able to spend some decent money, but we would still need to replace a £100million player who is effectively our talisman, and someone we can’t function without.
There are absolutely no guarantees that whoever arrived as a replacement would do just as well, then you might end up having to sign another replacement. Suddenly, you are in financial bother once again due to PSR.
It puts so much pressure on recruitment, and Newcastle will argue they have already done the hard work in terms of that. They identified Bruno and got him at a great price – why should they be punished for wanting to keep progressing?
Given the way the rules are now, it is incredibly difficult to see how Newcastle United can progress without selling one of their top stars. That feels completely wrong, and it is time, as Gary Neville says, for the rules to change.
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