Keith Downie says PIF were not comfortable with one Newcastle United summer signing and they are being proved right so far
The PIF sanctioned some major spending by Newcastle United this summer, but of course, a huge chunk of their outlay was recouped when they sold Alexander Isak to Liverpool for £125 million.
Newcastle needed to spend big this summer, having been heavily restricted by PSR during the last three windows, so it was no surprise when the Magpies brought in six first-team players at great cost.
Indeed, the Magpies broke their transfer record for the second time under the PIF when they signed Nick Woltemade for £69 million, eclipsing the £63 million spent on Isak in 2022.
Newcastle also spent £55 million each on Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, the latter of which Eddie Howe had to fight for to get sign off from the club's owners.
PIF were not keen on spending £55m on a player turning 29
Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has spoken about how the PIF were 'uncomfortable' spending so much money on Yoane Wissa, while Eddie Howe had fought all summer to get the deal done.
“They put so much time and effort and money into signing Yoane Wissa from Brentford.
“£55million, £50million plus £5million in add-ons. It wasn’t a deal that PIF were comfortable with.
“They did not want to spend that sort of money on a soon-to-be 29-year-old. They did not want to spend that money on a player who there’s not going to be much resale on. He’s going to be 33 when his deal ends, but it shows how desperate Newcastle were.”
We have to keep reminding ourselves that 30 isn't the football deathknell it used to be
The apprehension around spending £55 million on a player who would turn 29 two days after the transfer window closed wasn't reserved purely for the PIF, with many fans feeling the same thing; however, Newcastle were desperate for a proven Premier League goal scorer, and the market for strikers had been bonkers all summer.
However, we'd now love to know how the PIF feel having spent all that money for a player who has yet to kick a ball for the club and isn't likely to until next month.
In realistic terms, 29 isn't old, but in footballing terms, Wissa's body will take more time to recover and probably won't recover to 100%, so there's a good chance Wissa will have lost a bit of what made him so great last seaon, but this was always going to be a risk when signing a player staring down the barrel of that magic 30 barrier. Although we have to remember that 30 isn't as old as it used to be in footballing terms, these days, with players going on to play at the highest level well into their thirties these days.
We're sure that Wissa will still prove to be a good signing, and we expect he'll comfortably hit double figures for goals this season, but right now, the PIF must be itching to say "I told you so" to Howe.
