Newcastle United need to sell one of their best players? | OneFootball

Newcastle United have now gone three consecutive transfer windows without making any significant first team additions.

With the club’s PSR struggles repeatedly cited as the reason for our inactivity.

As we know far too well, these rules are nowhere near as hindering toward the so-called ‘big six‘, who have higher revenues that give them far more monetary wiggle room.

However, it’s not just these usual suspects who are still managing to strengthen their squads at the moment, as many of our rivals outside of those clubs  have still been making ambitious moves, while Newcastle United have been forced to sit out.

Aston Villa were the standout example in the January transfer window, bringing in five new first team players. Although their two standout additions are currently loan deals, the arrivals of Marco Asensio, a multiple-time Champions League winner, and Marcus Rashford, Manchester United’s former star boy, have injected a level of excitement into the Villa fanbase that Newcastle supporters haven’t experienced in quite some time, at least in terms of transfers.

Many of our other current competitors, such as Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, and Fulham, have also benefited heavily from productive transfer windows in recent years. Leaving Newcastle United fans questioning why these clubs seem to have more financial freedom than we do in recent windows. The reality, however, is clear: They are willing to sell key players.

Unlike Newcastle United, clubs like Aston Villa and Bournemouth have capitalised on major player sales, using those funds to reinvest in their squads. Villa’s reported £64million sale of young striker Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr this January is a prime example. Despite making exciting signings, they had to sacrifice a talented young forward in order to do so. Selling a promising young star of Duran’s calibre is something no club ever wants to be forced into. Despite that, it provided Villa with the financial flexibility that Newcastle currently lack.

Bournemouth took a similar approach, selling Dominic Solanke to Tottenham for around £65million last summer. This large fee allowed them to sign Brazilian striker Evanilson, who has proven to be a stellar replacement for Solanke, as well as speculating smaller fees on other players, such as teenager Dean Huijsen, a young defender who is already attracting significant resale value. Brighton’s well-documented model of developing and selling young talent has also given them increasing spending power, ensuring they can continuously refresh their squad without coming all that close to breaching PSR limits.

No Newcastle United fan wants to see a star player leave, but our outright refusal to sell any of them over the past few seasons, has undeniably been the main cause of the transfer stagnation we now find ourselves in. One major sale over the last couple of years could have provided crucial funds and PSR flexibility to improve squad depth, something that could have made a huge difference last season when an injury crisis derailed our push for European football.

Reports suggest that our three window transfer hiatus has positioned us for a major summer spending spree, potentially unlocking our financial firepower that has been restricted for so long. Until the transfer window rolls around, however, it remains unclear just how aggressive we are able to be in the summer market.

We can only hope that our prolonged break from the transfer market is finally going to pay off this summer. However, If financial constraints persist, Newcastle may finally have to bite the bullet and sell one of our key players if that is what it takes to revitalise the squad and end our frustrating transfer standstill.