Newcastle faced ‘massive’ points deduction before ‘very disappointing’ transfer scramble to meet PSR regulations
NEWCASTLE were facing a 10-point deduction just ONE DAY before the sales of Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson saved them from breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules.
Eddie Howe’s men were aware at the end of the 2023/24 season they needed to offload players to avoid punishment.
The severity of the situation became clearer during the campaign as Everton and Nottingham Forest received points deductions for similar breaches.
Newcastle were tasked with raising funds by the June 30 deadline.
But according to The Athletic, they were £60MILLION short just 24 hours before.
It is understood on the morning of June 29 there were talks within the club about a 10-point deduction.
One Newcastle insider described the situation as “horrific” and “the worst period I’ve ever experienced in football“.
Reports emerged linking Anthony Gordon with Liverpool and Alexander Isak with Chelsea, but neither of those deals came off.
Fortunately, Newcastle eventually managed to secure the much-needed funds hours before the deadline through the sales of Minteh and Anderson.
Winger Minteh, 20, joined Brighton for £30m, while Anderson made the move to Nottingham Forest for £35m.
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This meant Newcastle narrowly avoided a points deduction, before they managed to keep all of their biggest players in the summer window.
However, there will still be frustration at St James’ Park after they failed to secure No1 target Marc Guehi.
They failed to meet Crystal Palace’s £70m price tag as the long-running transfer saga fizzled out.
Newcastle also missed out on Anthony Elanga on Deadline Day after reportedly making a late £35m bid.
Speaking about the transfer window in the lead-up to Sunday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham, Toon manager Howe said: “I’m not going to sit here and say it’s been a brilliant window.
“We haven’t had the window we wanted, there’s no denying that.”