Declan Rice’s wage demands are said to be the biggest stumbling block in his move to Newcastle United.
The sky is blue, the water is wet, and Luke Edwards will always drag ecstatic Newcastle fans back down to Earth with a thud.
“Sources have told Telegraph Sport that Newcastle are likely to spend more in this window than they have done before under their Saudi Arabian owners, although there will still be restrictions in place and the wage bill will be capped,” Edwards writes in The Telegraph.
Wage limitations are expected to be the biggest impediment to Howe’s ambition to sign “elite players,” with targets like Declan Rice and Mason Mount demanding far more than Newcastle appear willing to pay.
It’s a valid point by Edwards and his source, for sure. There have always been noises from the club to that effect. It’s believed that increasing the wage cap to bring in superstars would disrupt the harmony within the squad as stars already on the books may feel they should be paid in-line with what the newbies are getting and so the discontent begins.
However, if the PIF and the board are serious about competing at the highest level, they will need players who fetch big wages, and they will have to pay those wages.
Declan Rice is set to cost a massive £120 million, and it’s realistic to expect him to demand wages that match that worth. It’s a stretch to think that Newcastle will be turned off by his wage demands.
Nobody inside Newcastle thought they could sign a ‘unbelievable’ player like Declan Rice for £120 million as a statement signing and pay him £50,000 per week with the footballing minds they’ve brought in since the takeover.
Unless they’re thinking along the lines of not being willing to do it yet. That makes more sense. Newcastle reaching a cup final and then qualifying for the Champions League was never in the cards for the PIF’s first full season.
In that aspect, the club is two or three years ahead of plan, and perhaps the board is just trying to see whether this was a fluke season or if they are ready to compete. As an outsider with no idea how to operate a football club, the obvious approach to deal with it is to just throw money at it; now that we’re here, it’s the only way to stay.
There are speculations that Newcastle want to make major acquisitions like Neymar one minute, and then there are reports like this one that indicate we will spend large, but on a bunch of players rather than one big name.
As the summer approaches, I assume we’ll see how Newcastle handles the transfer window and whether we go after Declan Rice or someone of a similar caliber.
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