Newcastle could not resist £1billion bid for big name after reporting £73m loss
Newcastle have reported a loss after tax of £73.4million (Richard Sellers/PA)
Chief executive Darren Eales has admitted even Newcastle could not resist a “£1billion” bid for one of their biggest names after reporting a loss of £73.4million.
The Magpies, who are 80 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, are considered one of the world’s richest football clubs, but like all their Premier League counterparts they have to operate within profit and sustainability rules.
Sporting director Dan Ashworth has insisted in the past that spending £200m a year on players – Amanda Staveley’s consortium has invested in excess of £400m in the squad since completing its takeover in October 2021 – is unsustainable, prompting speculation that the likes of Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes or Alexander Isak could be sold to fund future recruitment.
Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales has admitted even star men such as Bruno Guimaraes, pictured, have their price (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Asked about that possibility as he discussed the club’s financial figures for the year ending June 30, 2023, Eales said: “It’s difficult to hypothesise, but if we’re offered £1billion for one of those players, then no one could argue against that making sense.
“Any decision we make will always be against the backdrop of the medium to long-term benefit for the club. It’s difficult to say specifically on certain players, but I can say that, if we’re going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players.”
Newcastle’s rise since Staveley and her partners – the Ripon-based financier is understood to have reduced her 10 per cent personal stake in the club, but she and the Reuben Brothers still control the remaining 20 per
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