Newcastle United’s board have told manager Rafael Benitez that they want to see quality over quantity when it comes to the club’s transfer plans this summer, according to the Chronicle.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Magpies chiefs are wanting to see top talent who will be first team stars arrive at St James’ Park rather than players to make up the numbers, with the likes of Javier Manquillo and Joselu likely among those who fall into the latter category.
It is stated that the club also want to revert back to signing low cost quality players with high resale value, while they could also sell a number of their current senior stars to fund new arrivals.
Opinion
Signing quality over quantity is a great approach in theory but unfortunately for the Newcastle board football is not played out on paper. It is so much more than just the 11 players who line up to start a game – you need a squad, which is why Benitez has been forced to shop cheap and bring in the likes of Joselu and Manquillo. They might not be the most talented of players but on a limited budget it is the best you are going to get and you can be sure Benitez would rather have better quality at his disposal too. If those in the boardroom at St James’ Park want to see an improvement in signings then they need to get their hands out their pocket and give the manager the money he wants. Until that happens, Newcastle United will continue to shop on the cheap and suffer as a result.