OPINION
With Fulham announcing a club-record signing this summer, Newcastle’s poor record in the transfer market is thrown into the spotlight.
Fulham have today confirmed the signing of 26-year-old midfielder Jean Michael Seri from OGC Nice, revealing the news on the club’s official Twitter account.
The fee for the Ivory Coast international, as reported by The Sun, is reportedly around £25million, which would dwarf the newly-promoted minnows’ previous club record signing of Konstantinos Mitroglou from Greek side Olympiakos for £13.68million in 2013/14 (TransferMarkt).
Lets put this transfer into context. Unbelievably, the last time Newcastle broke their transfer record was in 2005. Yes, 2005.
The transfer of Michael Owen from Real Madrid to St. James Park in the 2005/06 season cost £22.5million, this remains their record transfer (TransferMarkt).
Sorry Magpies fans, it does actually get worse. Their second biggest transfer of all time is still Alan Shearer, who joined from Blackburn in 1996 for £18.9millon. Their third biggest transfer of all time is still Albert Luque in 2005 for £18million (TransferMarkt).
What has happened to all the huge TV revenue that the club receive every single year? What has happened to all the extra money that the club earns from playing in the Premier League? What has happened to the income from sponsorship and naming rights deals?
The fact that Fulham’s transfer of Seri would break Newcastle’s transfer record is beyond belief. It seems like every other club in the Premier League are spending money and breaking their transfer record, while the Toon just plods along and Benitez makes do with bargain basement signings.
Mike Ashley cannot expect Rafael Benitez to compete with the rest of the league when he’s been given such a small budget to work from in comparison with other clubs. It’s not just clubs of the same size that have more funds, even smaller clubs have bigger budgets, as Fulham have shown.
Newcastle United are a sleeping giant and that’s how they’ll remain until adequate investment is made.
