The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈

Arguably gone are the good days

AS Monaco, Anzhi Makhachkala, arguably PSG and now Premier League giants Newcastle United. Here is a list of sides that have had to change tactics in the transfer market because their owners changed tact.

FFP is potentially the reason for that, but one thing is for certain: bar Russian side Anzhi, the other sides mentioned on this list are still relatively competitive. A special mention to German giants Borussia Dortmund too, who I didn’t initially mention, but they of course can be mentioned in the same breath as the other clubs.

Arguably, Financial Fair Play (FFP) has forced these sides to change tact. All of these sides are very shrewd operators in the transfer market, after spending big on signings in the past.

Out with the old and in with the new

Alexander Isaak and Nic Woltemede are examples of two players from Newcastle with big price tags when they first came to St James’ Park. With French champions, where do we start? The world record fee paid for Neymar? The astronomical loan deal, which saw PSG make the move permanent for £160 million.

With the two-time defending Champions League trophy holders, they have thrown away the plan and have built a very talented squad, which is still relatively young.

Sure, Khvicha Kavratskilia and Marquinhos are experienced, but on the whole, the Parisians have a very young squad. The same could be said of their Ligue1 rivals Monaco, the hub of sourcing young French-African talent.

They spent big on players like Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao, but they too changed the way they operated in the transfer market completely.

Dortmund are the trailblazers with signing younger talent

Bundesliga giants BVB, who are arguably the pioneers of scouting young talent, did famously go very close to going bust in the early 2000s. Aubameyang, Kagawa, Dembele and Jude Bellingham are some players that have been bought, with the long-term plan of cashing in on these players and making a handsome profit.

Due to their former owners leaving, arguably this has forced Newcastle United to revisit the way they do transfers, just like the other sides. Gone are the signings of proven stars, but now players are signed with the appropriate transfer fees, based on their age and skill, amongst many other factors.

The Magpies will have to come to terms with the big loss of their manager Eddie Howe, as well as Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Alexander Isak and maybe their captain Bruno Guimaraes too, leaving St James’ Park.

Changing their strategy in the transfer market isn’t as bad as many are making out. FFP has forced their hand, arguably, but tapping into unproven, younger stars has its plus points.

Let me correct myself: unproven at this level. The players Newcastle have been linked with and in turn signed have been in the late teens, early 20s bracket; they come with a lot of promise.

But every time I think this strategy has been good, in my humble opinion, there’s then an example of when teams get impatient with the signings-of-younger-players model.

Chelsea are arguably an example of that this summer, so Newcastle’s owners need to balance caution when going through with this transfer strategy.