Newcastle CAN'T match Chelsea's spending despite Saudi riches
Newcastle United do have the squad depth to achieve another top four finish this season despite spending modestly over the summer compared to their rivals, according to Mail Sport's Craig Hope.
Eddie Howe's side finished fourth last season and qualified for the Champions League for the first time in two decades.
Despite their enormous Saudi Arabian wealth, the Toon have defied expectations by not matching the spending of rivals Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham.
So far, Newcastle have brought in Sandro Tonali for £52m, Harvey Barnes for £38m and Tino Livramento for £30m to bolster Howe's squad ahead of their European adventure.
The £30m sale of Allan Saint-Maximin to Al-Ahli helped raise vital funds to boost the budget.
Newcastle started the Premier League season in stunning fashion with a 5-1 thrashing of Aston Villa at St James' Park on Saturday night.
But as Hope explained on the It's All Kicking Off podcast, nobody should expect Newcastle to break the bank simply because of their rich backers.
'That's all they can do. They're bound by Financial Fair Play [FFP],' he said.
'We wrote a story in May that Eddie was told his budget was £75m if the didn't sell. The sale of Saint-Maximin subsequently unlocked that budget and they've gone close to £95m net with looking at bringing in another loan signing.
'People say the squad isn't deep enough and I get what they're saying. These were the sort of concerns I harboured going into the season.
'But then you look at the game on Saturday, they bring two players off the bench - Harvey Barnes and Callum Wilson - and they are the reason they blew Villa away, those two players took the game away from Villa.
'So there is more depth now. Anthony Gordon has almost come back like
Read on m.allfootballapp.com
