Sam Allardyce shared his theory on why Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is reluctant to splash the cash on transfers and linked it to the businessman’s desire to sell the club.
A Newcastle fan called Steve had phoned into talkSPORT to ask the former Magpies manager about Ashley and ranted how the owner didn’t invest every penny the club made into the transfer market.
Allardyce shared that Ashley didn’t give him too big of a transfer kitty when he was at St James Park, but pointed out the owner had only just arrived, before claiming the businessman wanted to make the Magpies more sellable.
The former Magpies boss pointed out if the Magpies look more profitable, by not spending big on transfers to cut into their earnings, it could help him sell the club for more money.
“Yeah Steve, probably more true now then it was back then as he only had just arrived so he hadn’t understood the way of football,” said Allardyce on talkSPORT (7:34am, Thursday, July 11th).
“There was a considerable amount of debt inherited and now I presume if it is the case, what you’re saying (Newcastle not spending on transfers), then it’s because he wants to sell it and doesn’t want to inject any more money into it.
“He probably wants to show the club making a profit and if you’re going to sell something, and you show it making a profit, you’re gonna get more money for it and that’s probably the crux of the problem.”
OPINION
Ashley famously claimed in a statement in 2017, as relayed by the Guardian, that every last penny the club generated from winning promotion from the Championship would be handed to Rafa Benitez to rebuild his team upon returning to the Premier League. Yet the Magpies only spent £39.87million, as per Transfermarkt, ahead of the 2017/18 season and that doesn’t seem like every penny was reinvested. While Ashley may claim that was the case, as he may have taken out money to cover the £90.9m loss (Source: Telegraph) the club made when in the Championship, the Magpies were then quiet during the summer window ahead of the 2018/19 campaign. So when you consider that and how Ashley previously oversaw the Magpies make such a huge loss due to dropping down a league, Allardyce’s theory doesn’t hold water. The businessman knows that Newcastle’s worth, value and profit margin would dramatically drop if they’re relegated and to improve their chances of avoiding the drop, he surely has to spend money on signing players. Otherwise, if they go down, he’ll never get the club off his hands for the price he wants.
