Journalist emphasises that Newcastle United are going to have to sell players to progress

Thanks to the Premier League tightening up rules around Profit and Sustainability and Associated Party Transactions, Newcastle United haven't been able to take full advantage of their owners' vast wealth to build a super squad.

Chelsea and Manchester City didn't have such rules to contend with when they were taken over by super rich backers and as such were able to go full Supermarket Sweep and buy up the world's top talent and buy success. Manchester City have adapted to the new rules, if you ignore the 115 breaches that is, but they already had a massive leg up.

Newcastle have been able to spend bigger than ever, but their limits are way lower than those of the teams they are chasing.

As such, it's inevitable that at some point Newcastle are going to have to sell a prize asset in order to grow.

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Chris Waugh poured cold water on the Alexander Isak to Arsenal stories

It seems counter-intuitive to sell a big player to progress, but that's the world we live in these days. The extra funds that would be unlocked by selling one big player could allow Newcastle to replace them with two or three.

The problem is, our big players tend to be the ones that fans gravitate towards and thus a sale would cause a massive uproar.

Chris Waugh was asked in his Q&A for The Athletic whether Newcastle fans should be worried about the club selling Alexander Isak after the constant speculation linking him with a move to Arsenal.

Newcastle may be powerless to resist a huge offer for a top player

Waugh did his best to allay those fears but then finished off by stating how it's inevitable that Newcastle are going to sell a fan favourite player at some point.

"There seems to be a desire from some pundits with Arsenal connections to get Isak to the Emirates. It is a link they bring up frequently, which is understandable given Arsenal’s lack of firepower and his exceptional Premier League record. He has 35 top-flight goals in 61 games (only 53 starts) for Newcastle and, after a slow start to this season, has four in his last four in all competitions.

"However, Arsenal did not make any move for the 25-year-old back in the summer. It was Chelsea who made tentative enquiries at the height of Newcastle’s PSR crisis, rather than Arsenal and, while the north London club have tracked the Sweden international for years, admiring a player and making a concrete move to sign him are entirely different things.

"If Newcastle fail to qualify for the 2025-26 Champions League, and especially if they do not secure any level of European football for next season, it potentially makes them susceptible to losing a player such as Isak, who has huge ambitions.

"They are going to need to sell to invest going forward, so while Howe is determined to keep Isak pretty much above all other players currently in the squad, if an offer of over £100million ($128.6m) arrives for him, the club will have a decision to make. But, given the length of his deal, Newcastle are still in a strong bargaining position and are not rushing to extend it just yet."