OPINION
Newcastle United are about to make a big mistake by selling Matt Ritchie to Stoke City.
The Sun report that the 28-year-old winger is “heading to” the Championship club for a fee of £15million as the north-east giants look to raise the cash needed to re-sign Andros Townsend.
Whatever the merits of the inconsistent Townsend, who tends to follow a very good performance with a couple of average ones, Ritchie is a player Newcastle need.
He might not be the dazzling wide man who will spatchcock Premier League defences for fun, but the 28-year-old is a player Rafael Benitez can always ink in for a 6/10 or 7-10 display.
Professional, committed and able to follow his manager’s instructions, Ritchie has been a key part of Newcastle’s success since joining from Bournemouth for £12million in the summer of 2016.
He scored three league goals and weighed in with six assists last season, a decent if far from spectacular return from 32 starts in the competition.
Sure, Ritchie is no Mohamed Salah but his statistics do not pale in comparison with Townsend, either.
By Newcastle’s standards, £15million is a huge sum. Only two players in the club’s history have been sold for more cash, which came in the summer of 2016 when Moussa Sissoko (£30million) and Georginio Wijnaldum (£25million) generated) mega fees.
In today’s market, a £3million profit for Ritchie is nothing more than okay.
It would be a damning indictment of the club’s ambition and status if they were to offload such a key player to a second-tier club.
