OPINION
If Newcastle fans thought the last two transfer windows were bad, Mike Ashley has one thing to say to them – hold my beer.
Rafa Benitez pulled off what could almost be called a miracle last season, mooring Newcastle safely in mid-table, despite not spending after wining the Championship.
The January window was notable for the arrival of Kenedy on loan from Chelsea, but even this was overshadowed by the farcical loan move for an injured Islam Slimani.
Now, according to the Telegraph, they’ve had a loan bid for striker Salomon Rondon “angrily” dismissed by West Brom.
He’s out of contract in the summer and it almost beggars belief that Newcastle would think West Brom would loan him out so he can leave on a free next summer.
West Brom have said he’s got a £16.5million release clause and they won’t consider anything but that price on a permanent deal.
That’s just embarrassing. But would Rondon even be the solution anyway?
This is a player who was part of a team that got relegated to the Championship, scoring seven goals in 36 games in the process. His best season in the Premier League was two prior to that when he scored nine in 34.
Benitez has to act and do everything in his power to find a new striker, although he hasn’t got a good track record here.
Last season Benitez signed another struggling Premier League striker, Joselu, from Stoke. Benitez said he needed a run in a side and would come good but he didn’t and has shown no signs of being able to.
That leaves Newcastle without a decent striker option again, with the Premier League season just weeks away from starting. You have to pity the fans and you have to feel sorry for Benitez, although he has to take some responsibility here.
But what Ashley is doing to the club should be criminal.