New sporting director Ross Wilson will lead an audit into the contract situation of Newcastle United’s top players as the club look to head off a repeat of the damaging Alexander Isak saga.
Isak’s acrimonious departure exposed potential issues for Newcastle in retaining their best players moving forward, especially if there is interest from the Premier League’s top clubs in them.
While Isak’s behaviour was dreadful there has always been an acceptance behind the scenes that the Newcastle project needs to keep pace with the aspirations of their best players, and ultimately the Swede exposed a fissure that the club’s new hierarchy needs to address: can they keep hold of their elite stars?
Insiders admit Newcastle must “learn the lessons” from the summer when Isak’s camp claimed that mothballing contract talks contributed to his discontent at the club.
That was disputed by those who made the decision, who pointed out that a precarious position in relation to the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) meant Newcastle’s hands were effectively tied.
For sporting director Wilson finding a trading strategy that works is a priority. And that means ensuring Newcastle are – in the words of one insider – “better protected” when it comes to contracts moving forward.
The i Paper understands preliminary talks with England defender Tino Livramento have already taken place and the club also want to tie Sandro Tonali and Sven Botman down to extended deals.
Livramento and Tonali’s contracts run until 2028 while Botman, who has been in imperious form so far this season, has a more pressing need with his deal expiring in 2027. Decisions on the future of Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier – who have less than 12 months remaining on their contracts – are also required.
Why is all this important?
While the Isak situation took up most of the black-and-white bandwidth this summer, it is worth pointing out there was also interest in Livramento from Manchester City, while Botman has been on the radar of Paris Saint-Germain in the recent past.
Neither advanced to an actual bid but just like with Tonali there is now a body of evidence that suggests these players can compete at the very top. Newcastle can’t afford to ignore the risks that poses.
“The situation with Isak and Viktor Gyokeres were very public fall-outs but actually they don’t tend to be that common,” Tom Keane, partner at Brandsmiths and former head of football negotiations at Manchester United, tells The i Paper.
“There will have been lots of situations this summer which were not too dissimilar to Isak which didn’t play out in public. It’s difficult for clubs if you’ve got interest, particularly from a supposedly superior club with a superior contract potentially on offer. You’ve got to get the player back on side to an extent so this is a way to go.”
Part of the problem at St James’ Park is the wage structure. As sources pointed out during their summer of transfer knockbacks, they have not always been able afford to match the terms being offered elsewhere in the Premier League – partly due to PSR but also because blowing up their current wage structure might impact dressing room chemistry.
The club also need to ensure their compliance with Uefa’s squad cost rules, which limit spending on wages, transfer fees and agents’ fees to 70 per cent of their revenue. They are currently very close to that limit.
It is a complex situation and explains why Newcastle have been holding off on getting into the nitty gritty on contracts until Wilson’s appointment was confirmed.
It will now be down to him to balance the club’s immediate need to keep their best players happy with the longer-term issues of keeping them on the financial straight and narrow.
One rival Premier League sporting director has an interesting take. “The third year of a five-year contract is the point at which I always address it. That is the point where you make a decision: keep and give a new contract or consider what selling the player means,” he tells The i Paper.
“Fans don’t want to hear it but the job of a sporting director is have that long-term idea of where you’re going with that player. So that means I have a plan for him staying, we have alternative players on the market who could replace them and we always have an idea of his value.”
Will Newcastle utilise release clauses to get deals done?
Newcastle are no strangers to using a release clause to tempt a player into committing their future to the club. Bruno Guimaraes’ 2023 contract renewal included a £100m release clause that could be triggered for one month (June) in the subsequent transfer window.
The i Paper understands there is a release clause in the new deal signed by Anthony Gordon a year ago at a similar level, although it is unclear what the specifications of it are, and the winger enjoyed a summer refreshingly free of transfer uncertainty.
Any new deals for Tonali, Livramento and Botman would almost certainly include similar clauses, although that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
“That exit clause doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to leave – it’s just giving everyone certainty,” Keane says.
“Either ‘X’ happens or you’ve got a longer contract on better terms so everyone is happy. And remember the release clauses can be as specific as you want them to be – they can be time sensitive and you can put a deadline on it.
“It might be that only certain clubs can trigger it, certain clubs are excluded from triggering it or that only a club that qualifies for the Champions League can do it.”
Rather than a summer of wrangling, as we saw over Isak, putting a release clause that works for Newcastle into any new contract gives the club some clarity over what might or might not happen.
The key for Newcastle is to use their leverage to ensure the release clause is pitched at the right level.
The i Paper is aware of one high-profile, in-form Premier League star who has a release clause “almost certain” to be triggered at the end of the season because the fee is far lower than his market value. With time running out on his deal that was the only way he would be persuaded to renew his contract, though.
Newcastle are approaching talks with Tonali and Livramento from a position of strength given they have three years left on their deals.
Ultimately, will they sign?
Newcastle need to tick two boxes here: financially they need to pitch the offer at the right level but they also need to sell the project.
At times during the last year it’s been difficult to work out what the scale of their ambition actually is, with Eddie Howe driving standards while the club seemed to plateau off the field.
The appointment of Wilson, along with CEO David Hopkinson, has to see them turn a page on that period. Newcastle remain ambitious, we are told, but now they have the structure in place to prove it.
Livramento and Botman are understood to be open to new deals. Tonali and his representatives are said to value the loyalty shown to him during his gambling ban, so the hope is that an agreement can be found. For Wilson, securing their futures would represent a flying start.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/CgNuRc0
Post a Comment