Evgeni Music is sure that Newcastle, not Tottenham, is the main anti-hero of the summer transfer window in England.
This summer the transfer policy of Tottenham (or rather, its absence) was the occasion for ridicule. The club did not buy anyone, but did not sell anyone either.. However, in fact, the most scolded is not "spurs".
The owner of Newcastle Mike Ashley is the main anti-hero of the summer transfer window in the Premier League. When the Chelsea fans complain about Roman Avramovich's "stinginess," they just need to look towards Newcastle.
Ashley was not always so tight-fisted. In the 2015/16 season, the Magpies spent more than 100 million euros on transfers, signing Jorjinho Weinaldum, Alexandar Mitrovic, Florian Toven, Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend and other players. Then everything ended with a flight from the Premier League, and the only positive thing for the club was the appointment of Raphael Benitez, who almost did not save them.
The Spaniard was not good enough for Napoli and even more so Real, but in Newcastle he does a fantastic job: winning the Championship and immediately taking the tenth place in the Premier League. And all this against a background of extremely limited composition. Benitez is not what squeezed the most out of Newcastle - he made the team jump higher than the head.
It would be naive to hope for a powerful boost this summer, given that Ashley wants to sell Newcastle, but does not sell. But the problem is different: the president, who has repeatedly stated that the club must sell to buy, did not even fulfill this promise.
In the summer, the Magpies sold out 46.8 million euros for players, and only three quarters went to buy them, 34.6 million. A modest expenditure for a club that receives more than 100 million euros for TV broadcasts and at every home game collects more than 50,000 fans, does not it? And if you add that of these 34.6 million seven were spent on the redemption of Mikel Merino, immediately resold in Real Sociedad for 12?.
The club made an excellent move by buying a shot from Martin Dubravka from Prague Sparta and extending the lease of Kennedy from Chelsea. And the rest of the transfers? A trio of newcomers from the departed Swansea and West Brom (Ke Son Yong, Federico Fernandez and Salomon Rondon), Fabian Scher from the Deportivo. And Yoshinori Muto - no, his Mainz did not fly out of the Bundesliga - he outranked 17th place by three points.
We can assume that Muto (8 goals in the previous Bundesliga) and Rondon (7) are stronger than Gale (6) and Mitrovic (1 goal in the Premier League + 12 in the Championship for Fulham). Perhaps, Fernandez and Cher will fill the loss of Chansel Mbemba, and Ki Sung Yong will replace Merino - but has the team with these transfers become much stronger?.
I had to meet with the opinion "Higuain in Newcastle will not go" - and it really is. Stars of the first magnitude "magpies" are not interesting. But Newcastle with his army of fans and performances in the Premier League would be of interest to such guys as Jean-Michel Seri (who was allegedly interested in Barcelona and Man City), Sergio Rico (Spain's goalkeeper), Alfi Mawson (the leader of the defense of Swansea), experienced Andre Schurrle or the talented Luciano Vietto.
But no, all these guys - in spending more than 100 million on Fulham transfers, and Newcastle still hopes for the coaching genius of Benitez.
However, the Spaniard is unlikely to allow a serious threat of departure for Newcastle. However, bookmakers consider him the second NPS manager in the list of favorites for dismissal. The love of the fans is fine, but the Sisyphean labor can get bored. Even a professional like Rafael Benitez.
Author: Евгений Музыка.