Lack of Key Clauses Set Newcastle up for Failure [Opinion]

Newcastle are setting themselves up for an enduring legacy of failure after the latest financial revelation surrounding the club.

An exclusive report in The Times recently detailed how not a single player has a relegation clause present in their Newcastle contract.

The Times notes the rationale behind this, detailing a prevailing belief that relegation clauses would weaken the Magpies’ hand in the transfer market.

Discussing internal policy at Newcastle, the report claimed:

‘Newcastle’s policy has been to avoid such clauses to prevent potential signings from being put off. It means that Newcastle, who are only one point outside the relegation zone, would have to carry their full Premier League wage bill into the second tier next season, if they go down, with top earners such as Miguel Almirón on £80,000 a week.

‘In their most recent published accounts, for the financial year ending June 2019, Newcastle had a player wage bill of £96.8 million. Since then they have signed Joelinton, Allan Saint-Maximin, Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser.’

If the worst fears of ardent Newcastle fans are indeed realised, then the lack of forward planning but excluding such clauses could exacerbate the catastrophe that would be unleashed by relegation.

The added attractiveness of a lack of a relegation clause certainly makes sense in the short-term, given the added financial cushion it offers to footballers.

Yet fans will surely be baffled as to why the same report claims that some fellow Premier League clubs see their players agreeing to relegation pay cuts of as much as 40%.

Newcastle’s financial accounts showed a staggering difference of £92.8 million in revenue from being a Championship club in 2016-17 to a Premier League club for the following campaign.

Without the lucrative revenue stream of Premier League TV income, expect a drop to have a deleterious effect on the sustainability of Newcastle’s financial approach.