Despite buckets of evidence to the contrary, the fact that Joelinton and Miguel Almiron have been our most influential players this season and good old common sense, some corners of the media and football fandom still like to point at Newcastle’s league position and insist that we’ve bought our way to the top.
I don’t think any Newcastle fan’s going to look you in the eye and deny that we’ve spent a lot of money in the past two transfer windows. By our usual standards we have spent loads, sure. But by the Premier League standards, we’re still way off the norm.
Sky Sports have put out a nifty little clip on twitter which shows the spending of each club in the Premier League:
How much? 😲😲 pic.twitter.com/Jb2mxW9dlY
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 16, 2023
Look where Newcastle are on that graph. Nine other teams have spent more than us, and of those nine, only one is higher in the league than us, Manchester City.
It’s Chelsea who lead the chart by a considerable margin, and just look at how they’re doing this season. If buying your way to glory was that simple, then they should have a 20 point lead at the top of the league.
Newcastle have spent wisely. I’d say of all the transfers under the new regime, only one hasn’t been successful and only one did we pay above the odds – they’re both Chris Wood. But if you look at that one as I do – we bought him to weaken a relegation rival as well as bolster our squad, he did exactly what we needed him to do.
Bear in mind how cheaply we got Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes. We have been extremely savvy in the market, not overspent and certainly haven’t gone as mental as some clubs.
So, the media (let’s be honest, the southern media), can we put that rhetoric to rest now please? Thanks.
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