The Profit and Sustainability Rules forced Newcastle United to make some difficult transfer decisions.
Newcastle United faced an ultimatum last summer – to sell up or face a points deduction. The Magpies were facing a PSR breach before they raised cash through two sales.
Eddie Howe said Newcastle were “forced” to sell with “business logic” taking power over footballing decisions.
Howe’s hardest decision at Newcastle was green-lighting the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh this summer to Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest and Brighton.
Combined, both deals raised close to £70m for Newcastle, with Anderson joining Forest for £35m and Minteh signing for Brighton for £33m.
As Howe feared, both players have become key figures at their new clubs.
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Yankuba Minteh stars for Brighton in new role
While he never made a senior appearance for Newcastle, Minteh was considered an extremely bright talent around St James’ Park.
A first-team breakthrough seemed inevitable after Minteh’s successful loan spell at Feyenoord, but Newcastle had no choice but to accept Brighton’s bid in an attempt to raise cash.
Since his move to the south coast, Minteh has made 23 appearances for Brighton, scoring five goals and assisting three times.
Two of those goals came on Friday evening when Minteh starred in Brighton’s 3-0 win over Chelsea.
In WhoScored’s latest Premier League Team of the Week, Minteh was handed the highest rating of any player in England’s top flight with 9.95 – a near-flawless display.
Minteh has traditionally played as a winger, but he was deployed as a right wing-back by Fabian Hurzeler against Chelsea. Not only did he score twice, but Minteh also completed more key passes (3) and tackles (4) than any player on the pitch.
Newcastle regret over Yankuba Minteh deal
Directly after his Brighton debut, Jamie Carragher said Newcastle will regret selling Minteh and sadly it seems he has a point.
Not only did Newcastle want to sign a right winger over January, but Howe will also want a new right-back signed in the summer with Kieran Trippier expected to leave.
Minteh has now shown at Brighton that he can play both as a right winger and as a right-back – two positions Newcastle need to improve desperately.
READ MORE: PSR was not the only reason Newcastle United decided to sell Yankuba Minteh to Brighton
At 20 years old, Minteh still has plenty of time to improve and his value will likely soar well past the £33m Newcastle collected for him.
Unfortunately, Newcastle do not have a Minteh buyback clause. The only thing Newcastle can do now is aim to solve their PSR issues so they are not forced into a similar situation ever again.
