Richard Keys has taken yet another shot at Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez, comparing his transfer spend to Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Keys has long been a Newcastle, and particularly Benitez, antagonist, and it appears that the deadline day signing of Miguel Almiron was all the ammunition he needed to blast the Spaniard once again.
“Rafa Benitez has now spent £145m in 3 years at Newcastle,” he said on his personal Twitter account. “In the same period Pochettino has spent £179m at Spurs – and guided them into the top 3 in each of the last 3 seasons.”
OPINION
This is just embarrassing now from Keys. Does Mike Ashley have him on the payroll or something? How many times has he criticised Benitez and stuck up for Ashley over the past few years? Countless times. Besides, he doesn’t even make sense here. £145million or £179million for Tottenham is not the same as the same amount of money for a club like Newcastle. With that kind of cash Spurs can attract top drawer players like Son Heung-min, Davinson Sanchez and Lucas Moura. Newcastle simply would not be able sign those types of players even if they offered the requisite amount of money. Plus, there’s a small thing called wages, which have to be paid to players. Even if Newcastle agreed a fee for those sorts of players they’d never be able to offer them the cash they need to sign on the dotted line. Spurs, on the other hand, can, and those types of players – the type of players who help you finish in the top three – are naturally far more inclined to move to Tottenham than Newcastle anyway. It’s apples and oranges, and Keys needs to get a grip.
