High inflation
BUT ISAK’S WORTH IT SAYS ED
EDDIE HOWE admits that spending £58million on new boy Alexander Isak isn’t value for money – but is still a good deal.
The Newcastle head coach says the inflated prices of the transfer market are “incredible” this summer, but that rebuilding United means having to move with the times and smash their old spending limits.
Howe is set to hand the Swedish striker his debut at Wolves today, most likely off the bench, after just two training sessions with his squad on Tyneside.
Asked if he has a burden to do well now that the Saudi-funded club have spent £210m on eight players since January, Howe said: “Now you’ve said it like that, yes! Sounds a lot, doesn’t it?”
Howe says the six-year deal for Isak, who Real Sociedad signed for £8m from Borussia Dortmund three years ago, left him excited and under pressure to deliver.
But he added: “I definitely feel a responsibility to the price. It certainly wouldn’t be a case of signing a player at any cost, I don’t think that’s the right way to act.
“It’s very difficult because transfer fees are...it’s an incredible market.
“I could never sit and say I think it’s value for money, just with the price.
“But when you look at the market I think it’s a good deal for us otherwise I wouldn’t have pushed hard to try to do it.
“Transfer prices are out of any type of realism from when I was playing but you just have to adapt to the times. If you don’t adapt and go with it then you don’t improve.
“You can spend double that money and not guarantee success. It is not about money, it is about how we unite the club now.”
The spend has certainly bolstered Newcastle, already vastly improving under Howe (right), and there is now huge expectation around the club.
He added: “I think the pressure is always there, here.
I don’t think the money…. it is important because we need it to improve the squad…but it is never about the money you spend.
“It is how you gel the group together and the work we deliver on a daily basis to get the best out of those players.
Howe says he treated the record signing in just the same way as when he was shopping for bargains as manager of Bournemouth.
“I feel exactly the same to be honest,” he said. “In my early
days, we were looking at people on free transfers, out-of-contract players, but you are still trying to find the right fit for your team.
“You’re trying to find the right characters that will benefit the group. Then you have to mould those players around the team.
“It doesn’t change. The process is exactly the same.
“But what does change is the perception of everyone else because you’re outlaying a big sum of money.”