Rafa was promised (significant) transfer funds to spend in the summer and the bottom line – as we all know now – is that he didn’t get them.
We spent around £19M net in the summer transfer window to bring in six new players and because Rafa couldn’t afford his top targets, Newcastle are now starting to struggle in the Premier League.
But Rafa has said today he expects the funds that were not available to him last summer to be made available to him this January – so he can reinforce the side.
Rafa Benitez – expects transfer funds in January
This is some of that Rafa said in his press conference on the potential takeover and the January transfer window:
“The first thing we have to be sure is we stay in the division. Then we can dream in the future.”
“It’s important to compete in these next two home games. Then we can win. We cannot win if we do not compete.”
“We have to maximise what we have, which is fantastic fans behind the team supporting the players we have.”
“For us 40 points is the salvation, then we see where we are after that. Every point is important. We have to stick together to maximize what we have.”
“I don’t know (about the recent Staveley – Ashley meeting on Wedneasday night) because I was not there. I have heard what is going on because I see what you have.”
“I haven’t been briefed about what was said. I have to just concentrate on games. I can just influence our on-field issues.”
“It doesn’t change for me, I just prepare the squad. I have a game tomorrow.”
“It is my conviction that we will stay up. But new players could help.”
“We (Rafa and Ashley) had a meeting in May and I am expecting that the money we did not spend in August will be made available in January.”
“I hope to have a meeting soon.”
This seems a direct message to Mike Ashley and Rafa is still upset that Mike Ashley didn’t keep his word last summer.
It could be Ashley decided to sell the club in the summer and wanted the financial books to look good.
Since Amanda Staveley and her group have npw looked at the books and seem satisfied – perhaps Mike can now release those funds.
RHope so.
Comments welcome.
184 comments so far
Laurent Robert 32
Dec 8, 2017 at 2:30 PM
Comment #1I’ve just read that al Futtaim isn’t royalty so that doesn’t correlate with what Bambam’s suggested.
He owns malls and hyper markets it says, so not oil.
thereallowickmag
Dec 8, 2017 at 2:40 PM
Comment #2Nezza
I get your point but to be actually sat in the meeting? Not sure top notch business people let papers in their meetings? Then for the story to be in the SUN.
fist pumping for the cameras as well. Whenever media moguls are involved something dodgy is going on.
Tsunki
Dec 8, 2017 at 2:51 PM
Comment #3Spare a thought for the disadvantaged – it looks very much like a collective worst day ever is approaching for our missing links on Wearside. 🙂
What must it be like to see your most hated rivals approach a buyout and premier league security just as your own sorry outfit is swirling around the pan of oblivion? I wonder if whoever got the invoice for the “Auf Wiedersehen Prem” flyover had it framed? A real collectors item that one.
Jib
Dec 8, 2017 at 2:58 PM
Comment #4WITH HAYDEN,ATSU AND MITRO TO COME ON 2ND HALF
Essex Geordie Bill
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:10 PM
Comment #5Jib
That’s the team I would pick as well.
Tsunki
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:27 PM
Comment #6Breaking with tradition i have gone for a win against Leicester. Not your average win either. 3-0. I think we will hand out a shock.
Tsunki
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:29 PM
Comment #7Especially for the likes of our red-nosed (not in a seasonally festive way) tipsy tipster.
Hic…burble…burrrrp…..pop…..belchhhh……
Tsunki
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:30 PM
Comment #8Rafas message is for the new owner to hit the ground running.
sing in the corner
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:34 PM
Comment #9Fancy Ashley taking A-naan-da Stavely for a budget Ruby to seal the deal. Spiv to the very end.
bettyswallocks
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:40 PM
Comment #10I was just dreaming about the takeover and got to thinking if we did end up with a huge transfer budget who is actually available to buy that would reastically come to Newcastle.
It has been highlighted many times that apart from maybe Merino, who from our squad would get into a top six side. This means that to seriously challenge the top six ,if that is the aim , then our squad needs a complete overhaul. The demand for players good enough for the top teams far outweighs the supply so unless we start throwing ridiculous money around , it is going to have to be a gradual rebuilding process.
The new owners might not be prepared to build for the future and wait for on the field success so interesting times definitely lie ahead.
ShirebrookToon
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:44 PM
Comment #11Both parties are happy with the outcome. Things are looking really good now. Lot of positivity come from the meeting
ShirebrookToon
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:46 PM
Comment #12They were in talks most of yesterday, apparently cash is going to be available to rafa in January.
Big money.
1 x Marquee signing and money for building a squad, not a team to stay up
Apparently they didnt talk about sale of nufc at any time during meal.
Essex Geordie Bill
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:46 PM
Comment #13Cairney and Townsend on his xmas wish list I reckon for starters.
Essex Geordie Bill
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:48 PM
Comment #14Shire that may be true but there was probably a huge pachyderm loitering somewhere.
lochinvar
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:48 PM
Comment #15If Desmond has secured publishing rights for the story just wonder what the title will be. With the Mackems facing being cast out into the Wilderness and not becoming A City of Culture (not unexpected) how about
A Tale of Two Cities
PureGeordie
Dec 8, 2017 at 3:49 PM
Comment #16Shire,
Hopefully means that fee is agreed, or close to being agreed anyway.
Part of me thinks are they delaying announcing a takeover, incase clubs get wind of the money behind us, and boost prices of their players up.
Here’s hoping, anyway!
Lindisfarne
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:00 PM
Comment #17Quite comforting to know that four of our last five matches have been against teams currently in the top nine, or did we help put them their?!
Mag52
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:01 PM
Comment #18What with the Ashley/Staveley curry house meeting and the Brexit breakthrough, things could be starting to look up.
Lindisfarne
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:03 PM
Comment #19Has anyone else picked up on the fact that last night in an affluent north London suburb, MA could have possibly eaten a curry that was 50p cheaper than at SJP?!
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:29 PM
Comment #20At least this looks like real news and that progress has been made. Now for the timing. That will be tricky but surely Ashley will have to fork out in January as part of the agreement in order to keep us up. Let’s see if we get things finalized before Christmas. Then the paperwork in January while Rafa gets the players he needs. Then final takeover in the spring? I don’t know how these things work but it would be great to have new owners running things by the beginning of summer.
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:35 PM
Comment #21Now the final price will probably depend on what Ashley spends in January. If it is 50M I would look to see a final price of 320M or so. Just a guess but that would mean a real price of 270M. This could go up or down somewhat I’m sure. I can’t see the Staveley group spending more than that even with an improved squad because much more would be required to get us into the top half of the table consistently.
Jib
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:35 PM
Comment #22In his presser Rafa mentioned the funds he
was expecting in August will be available in January
I presume that means we could be chasing the same
targets as in Summer.
Which means the media , with some of the names they
have mentioned lately, may not be too wide of the mark.
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:38 PM
Comment #23Ashley can only look to his own poor decision making over the years for the type of price he is having to look at now. That initial 380-400M price tag was hilarious. I realize you always start above your final price in bargaining but that’s like asking for 500K for your house when you know it’s worth 350K in the market it’s in.
TyneMouth
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:38 PM
Comment #24The Paradise restaurant in Hampstead is my local ‘Indian’. It’s very good, and not your average ‘budget’ curry house. Not at over £50 a head in my book mind you.
We eat there usually once a month, fortunately not when Ashley has been refuelling. It’s not unusual to recognise a few well-known faces amongst the clientele, after all this is Hampstead. (A signature dish of the restaurant is a spicy butter chicken dish called ‘Artic Murg’, named after regular diners, the Artic Monkeys.)
I doubt that this was a business meeting, not even for a cockney chancer like Ashley would conduct business in a crowded restaurant! Especially with the principle representative of an investment group, with a major newspaper proprietor at the same table!
This whole event was stage managed, someone tipped off the paparazzi, the Sun newspaper doesn’t have photographers loitering outside restaurants in Hampstead on a cold Wednesday night, it’s not Mayfair or Soho.
Whatever is the truth of the incident, one thing is certain, both Ashley and Amanda are playing the same game, whether that is simply to confirm that the negotiations are proceeding amicably, or to attract /entice an alternative bidder. Time will tell…
sing in the corner
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:41 PM
Comment #25Arctic
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:42 PM
Comment #26Three decent incoming in January would transform us because Rafa has already done a lot of the ground work instilling good discipline defensively. I think we are fairly decent at the back for the first time in years and all we need is to have more ball possession in the opponents half, and of course score more. This should be doable with a striker and a couple of decent AMF. Not sure where that leaves Shelvey. Mitro will be gone in January and Hoser Loo in the summer. I wouldn’t bet on Perez surviving either.
hibbit
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:42 PM
Comment #27GeordieTwo
i think your getting ahead of yourself,
how do you know what the new owner will spend when we don’t even know who the new owner is.
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:44 PM
Comment #28Well said TyneMouth. That really changes the perspective. I think you’re right. It was stage managed for the press but I would think both parties would realize what the intention was and it wouldn’t be to attract more bidders.
Jib
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:45 PM
Comment #29Tynemouth
You’d think someone who lives down South
would know that Ashley is not a cockney.
Jib
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:46 PM
Comment #30Sing
This is a different band
The Articulated Monkeys
😀
TyneMouth
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:47 PM
Comment #31Artic, Arctic even, spellchecker curse!
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:48 PM
Comment #32Haha! Good point hibbit. I’m just going on the theory that there has only ever been one bidder and that is obviously the Amanda group. As for club price it has clearly come down considerably. Ashley was never getting 380M with the squad he has built (if built is the right word instead of destroyed or prevented from being half decent). The price surely can’t rise much above around 280-300M plus any January spending in my mind. Talks stalled because Amanda wouldn’t go above 300M. Ashley will try to squeeze a bit after January but I think he’s between a rock and a hard place. Let’s wait and see but like everyone else I love to speculate since it’s all we can do.
Novocastrian66
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:48 PM
Comment #33Last night’s meeting could have been a ruse to flush out potential suitors who have yet to make a bid. Miss Stavely may be a stalking horse after all.
Given the secretive nature of the takeover and the NDA they weren’t making much effort to conceal their meeting.
Who did they want to see them having a seemingly harmonious meeting?
All of that was not done for the benefit of us supporters.
sing in the corner
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:50 PM
Comment #34Tynemouth
I saw the menu pictured by the Sun. £50 a head? Do you and your neighbour Ashley have 5 mains each??
Novocastrian66
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:51 PM
Comment #35Beat me to it Tynemouth
Tinman
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:53 PM
Comment #36My god get your tin foil hats out everyone…
sing in the corner
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:54 PM
Comment #37Tinman
Don’t you mean the crispy hats?
ashleysmate
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:56 PM
Comment #38Loch#15
Or another could be title
‘SHIT HAPPENS’
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:56 PM
Comment #39Staveley would never allow herself to be used as a stalking horse. What would she gain from that? I think it’s far more likely that the meeting was meant to show that there is a serious bidder who hasn’t pulled out of the negotiations. That’s all.
GeordieTwo
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:59 PM
Comment #40Until I see some actual facts about mysterious “other” bidders who never reveal themselves or put in a bid it seems fairly certain they don’t exist. Nothing is absolutely certain but I wouldn’t have my money on another bidder winning. The club isn’t all that attractive unless the price stays fairly low. And that means a second serious bidder would have already driven the price above 300M. Anyway it’s all speculation as we all know.