Eddie Howe admits spending £58m on Alexander Isak isn’t value for money - but is still a good deal.
The United coach says the inflated prices of the transfer market are “incredible” this summer, but rebuilding Newcastle means having to move with the times and smash their old spending limits. Howe is set to hand Swedish striker Isak his debut at Wolves on Sunday, most likely off the bench, after just two training sessions with his squad on Tyneside.
Asked about the burden to succeed now that Saudi funded club have spent £210m spree on eight players since January, Howe joked: “Now you’ve said it like that, yes! Sounds a lot, doesn’t it.”
Howe says the massive deal, which included a £5m a year, six year deal for Isak, who Real Sociedad signed for £8m from 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 and 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 to the times 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 bolstered Newcastle, already vastly improving under Howe, and there is now huge expectation.
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.
“The money and the ambitions, that is not the reason I came. I came for the challenge. The honour of representing Newcastle, and the challenge we had was to stay in the league. The money and everything else was not in my thoughts.”
Howe says he has treated the record signing the same as when he was shopping for bargains as Bournemouth boss.
He added: “I have loads of examples of my best signings. Going back to my early days at Bournemouth - Brett Pitman, Artur Boric, Mark Pugh , Harry Arter - players I signed for very little outlay who gave me great years of service and helped transform the team. And I'm sure I've left somebody out!
"I feel exactly the same to be honest. In my early days, we were looking at 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 for a player but the process does not change.
“You still have to find the right player and you have to visualise that player in your team, performing well and what he will bring. So the money really is irrelevant. It's the media spotlight that is the big difference."
