Newcastle told to pay ‘more than’ £26m for teen as Ashworth warns club against ‘unsustainable’ spending
Newcastle United will reportedly have to pay “more than” £26m if they are going to sign Andrey Santos from Brazilian side Vasco da Gama.
The club’s Saudi-led takeover was completed towards the end of last year and this ended Mike Ashley’s spell on Tyneside.
Newcastle were battling relegation when their new owners took over but they ended up finishing ninth in the Premier League in 2021/22.
Eddie Howe was appointed as the owners quickly got rid of Steve Bruce and £90m was spent on new players in January.
The Magpies also spent £120m this summer as they look to kick on following their positive end to the 2021/22 campaign.
Newcastle are now one of the richest clubs in the world and for the most part, they have spent their money wisely so far.
They clearly have one eye on the future with Alexander Isak, Sven Botman and Bruno Guimaraes all having their best years ahead of them.
The Premier League outfit are also looking long-term as they are pursuing Vasco da Gamo midfielder, Santos.
The 18-year-old has already made an impact in Serie B as the Brazil U20 international has netted seven goals in 33 outings for his boyhood club.
Interestingly, Santos has the same agent as Guimaraes, so that is something in Newcastle’s favour.
Howe’s side have been linked with the wonderkid over the past month and Fabrizio Romano is reporting that his price tag will be “really high”.
He states that clubs will have to fork out “more than” £26m to sign him as he is not due to be out of contract until 2027.
This report comes on the same day Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth warned the club that spending £200m on players each year is “unsustainable”:
“What’s been clear, this club has invested… I wasn’t here for January, but circa £200million in 2022 – that’s unsustainable. You can’t keep doing that every year.
“You just can’t, so consequently we have to look at some emerging talent, enhancing our academy and getting the players through from a different route.”
Ashworth added: “At some stage, you have to trade. One of the things around Financial Fair Play is you have to trade, we have to be able to generate some money to reinvest and go again.
“I can’t lie to you and say we’ll never have to sell a player, we’d always be able to hold on to our top talent. That doesn’t happen anywhere.
“Liverpool sold [Sadio] Mane – you have to sometimes make a pragmatic decision to go, ‘Okay, we’ll do that because that’s a way of reinvesting in the football club’.
“But as a rule of thumb, I would like to think we’ll be able to hold on to our top talent in order to drive our ambitions of driving up the league and competing for cups.”
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