It is not just the draw with Manchester City that suggests a positive change for Newcastle, and English football.
It was the response of Eddie Howe when told that Real Madrid saw Bruno Guimaraes as the replacement for the departing Casemiro. Were Newcastle up for turning a quick profit?
‘No, absolutely not,’ said Howe. ‘We’re trying to build a squad here who can make the club successful.’ And we’ve heard such denials many times over the years. Nobody’s for sale until they are.
Bruno Guimaraes has been one of Newcastle’s star players since joining the club in January
Magpies manager Eddie Howe has said his midfielder is ‘absolutely not’ for sale
At Newcastle, though, it’s now different. Newcastle no longer have to sell. Newcastle can say no and mean it, like Manchester City could after the Abu Dhabi takeover. And that’s progress. For the club, but also for the English game. The elite can still try to tie Newcastle in the protectionist knots of financial fair play, but they cannot plunder their best.
Guimaraes was smartly recruited in January. If Madrid see him as the next Casemiro, it means perhaps Manchester United missed another trick. They have paid £60million for a 30-year-old; Guimaraes is 24 and cost £35m.
But Newcastle do not have to fix United’s mistakes any more. They do not have to kowtow to Madrid, either. The giants of La Liga think players must come to them by right. Madrid’s reaction to Paris Saint-Germain keeping Kylian Mbappe was hysterical, in both senses of the word. Imagine if they cannot even prise Guimaraes out of Newcastle.
And some will disapprove. They will cite the source of Newcastle’s new-found wealth as they once did that of Manchester City. Yet what is the alternative? Leicester, Everton. Clubs that are currently being raided due to the inequalities of FFP.
Leicester cantre-back Wesley Fofana has been subject to two huge bids from Chelsea
Leicester cannot spend, it seems. Nor Everton. Yet Chelsea can raid them for Wesley Fofana or Anthony Gordon, maybe both. That’s how FFP works. The claim is that clubs can grow organically, living within their means.
The reality is that if they unearth some nugget of local talent, if they are shrewd in their dealings in the transfer market, a bigger, wealthier rival ensures they never get the chance to make it count.
Gordon, born in Kirkdale, won’t get beyond one full season at Everton. Fofana, unearthed by Leicester at Saint-Etienne, has played 52 games for them in all…