‘Way overpriced’ – Le Tissier reacts to ‘baffling’ £25m too expensive Newcastle transfer
Newcastle overspent massively on a “baffling” signing this summer who should have only cost £30million.
That is the verdict of former England and Southampton star Matt Le Tissier, who told Football Insider exclusively that one of the Magpies’ signings ranked in his top three worst transfers of the summer.
Freed from the shackles of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), for this season at least, Newcastle looked primed for a strong summer.
Eddie Howe‘s side had secured a return to the Champions League and ambitiously challenged Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Man United in the pursuit of the likes of Dean Huijsen, Joao Pedro, and Bryan Mbeumo.
However, the Magpies failed in their approach for those players and were forced to pursue other targets.
Newcastle turned to Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike, and James Trafford, but once again, the big-name players chose to join bigger-name clubs.
The North Eastern club have managed to secure Aaron Ramsdale on loan from Southampton and Malick Thiaw from AC Milan.
But whilst they also secured Anthony Elanga‘s signature this summer, Newcastle may have overpaid significantly to bring him to St. James’ Park.
Anthony Elanga not worth £55million
This article contains exclusive comment from former Southampton and England striker Matt Le Tissier.
Newcastle signed Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest for £55m this summer [BBC Sport] after the winger scored six and assisted 12 in all competitions last season.
However, Le Tissier told Football Insider that whilst the Swedish winger was a good player, he had not done enough to justify the Magpies spending that sort of money on him.
He said: “Anthony Elanga is a decent enough player, don’t get me wrong, but I thought £55m was way overpriced if I’m honest.
“I’ve gone for that as a baffling one because I just thought, you know, if they could have got him for like £30m I would have gone, yeah, okay, I see that.
“But I just think £55m? I’ve not seen £55m worth of talent.
“I think he’s a good player, but I thought that was overpriced for me.”
Alexander Isak to join Liverpool by 1 September
The last thing that Newcastle can afford right now, whilst they struggle to bring in new players, is for their existing stars to head for the exit.
But Le Tissier told Football Insider that is exactly what he expects to happen, predicting that Alexander Isak will be a Liverpool player by 1 September.
The Swedish striker is currently on strike and did not feature in the Magpies’ opening game of the season, where Howe’s team looked toothless in attack, drawing 0-0 with Aston Villa.
Isak is desperate to make the move to Anfield and Newcastle’s showing against the Villains showed they must find a replacement for him.