United losing out to clubs with more financial clout

IT was just eight days ago that Newcastle United launched a clubrecord bid for Hugo Ekitike. Now the Eintracht Frankfurt striker is undergoing a medical at Liverpool.

- By CIARAN KELLY Football writer [e-mail] @CiaranKelly_

This latest setback sums up what has been a frustrating window for Newcastle, who have landed Anthony Elanga, but missed out on Ekitike, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Dean Huijsen.

Newcastle may have disrupted the established order on the field, but going toe-to-toe with these clubs off it is a different matter entirely and Eddie Howe needed no reminding of that.

“Financials play a huge part,” the Newcastle boss told reporters at the weekend. “Anyone who doesn’t think that’s true is deluded.”

Newcastle's progress under Howe is undoubted - the Magpies have ended a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy and qualified for the Champions League in two of the last three seasons but clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea are now feeling the benefit of legacy success, stability at boardroom level and superior wage bills in a PSR world.

For context, in clubs’ most recent set of published accounts, from 2023-24, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Spurs all spent more on wages than Newcastle (£218.7m).