A general view of Newcastle United supporters waiting outside the stadium for news of the latest developments in the sale of the club to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund for 300 million-pound ($408 million) takeover in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England Thursday Oct. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
The Magpies were forced to offload both Minteh and Anderson to Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest, respectively, for a combined £68million before June 30 or otherwise faced a points deduction for breaching PSR.
Minteh joined Brighton for £33m, despite never kicking a ball for United. The Gambian spent last season on loan at Feyenoord where his form caught the attention of several clubs across Europe. Meanwhile, academy graduate Anderson was sold for a club-record £35m, equalling the total of Andy Carroll’s move to Liverpool in January 2011.
Shearer said: “Obviously, Newcastle had to sell players because of PSR. I’m pleased they’ve done the business they’ve done, I’m pleased they didn’t sell [Alexander] Isak and Bruno [Guimaraes].
“I know [Elliot] Anderson loved playing for Newcastle, but hopefully he’ll get more game time at [Nottingham] Forest and he can show everyone how good he is. He’s a really good player. I think because of what Newcastle had to do and the timing of it, it’s been good business for them.”
Shearer then slammed PSR, questioning its fairness as aspirational clubs like Newcastle and Aston Villa look to challenge the established ‘top six’ on a consistent basis.
“Those PSR rules don’t sit easy with me,” he told Betfair. “If Newcastle hadn’t sold Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson, they would have had to sell one of their bigger players to one of the big clubs. What chance have you got? What message is that sending out? The rules just don’t sit comfortably with me at all.
“If you look at Newcastle and Aston Villa, they’re trying their very best to get near the big boys and challenge. Yet when they do, they have to sell players.
“Villa have had to sell Douglas Luiz to Juventus because of PSR. That can’t be right when a club is trying to challenge the big boys, and what they’ve got behind them as football clubs doesn’t sit easy with me.”
