In 2007, Mike Ashley purchased the combined stakes of John Hall and Douglas Hall, effectively giving him ownership of Newcastle United. Since that time, and the appointment of Alan Pardew, Mike Ashley has continued to be accused of asset stripping the club to make a profit. Backers of Mike Ashley, few though they are, continue to push that the club is now on an even keel. Mike Ashley detractors, who seem to be in the majority, argue that if the club would spend more money on players and do more than just balance the books, the club could push for top five, or even higher.
One of the questions that remains to be answered is just how much has Mike Ashley profited or lost from player transfers alone? The only way to answer that question, one way or the other, is to look historically at the club’s transfers under Mike Ashley’s tenure. The club would argue that agent fees and other miscellaneous fees should be included, but since that information hasn’t been made public, all I can go on is the transfer fee itself.
Also, I have not included loan transfers. This list contains permanent transfers only.
For what it’s worth, Mike Ashley has a current net worth of £3.75 Billion.
2008 – 2009 Newcastle United Transfers
Transfers In
Jonas Gutierrez – Undisclosed fee, believed to be around £2 Million
Danny Guthrie – Undisclosed fee, believed to be around £2.5 Million
Sebastien Bassong – Undisclosed fee, believed to be around £1.8 Million
Fabricio Coloccini – Undisclosed fee, believed to be around £10 Million
Xisco – Undisclosed fee, believed to be around £5.75 Million
Peter Lovenkrands – Free Transfer
Kevin Nolan – £4 Million
Ryan Taylor – Part Exchange for Charles N’Zogbia
Total Spent: £26 Million
Transfers Out
David Rozenhal – £2.9 Million
Peter Ramage – Free
Stephen Carr – Free
James Troisi – Free
Emre – £3.8 Million
Abdoulaye Faye – £2.25 Million
James Milner – £12 Million
Shay Given – £5.9 Million
Charles N’Zogbia – Undisclosed, believed to be around £6 Million
Total Income: £32.85 Million
Profit / Loss of 2008-2009 Season: £6.85 Million Profit
2009 – 2010 Newcastle United Transfers
Transfers In
Peter Lovenkrands – Free
Fabrice Pancrate – Free
Danny Simpson – £750,000
Wayne Routledge – £1 Million
Mike Williamson – £1 Million
Leon Best – Undisclosed Fee
Total Spent: £2.75 Million
Transfers Out
Mark Donninger – Free
James Marwood – Free
Cacapa – Free
Peter Lovenkrands – Free
Mark Viduka – Retired
David Edgar – Released
Michael Owen – Released
Obafemi Martins – £9 Million
Sebastien Bassong – £8 Million
Habib Beye – £2.5 Million
Damien Duff – £4 Million
Geremi – Undisclosed
Total Income: £23.5 Million
Profit / Loss 2009 – 2010 Season: £20.75 Million Profit
2010 – 2011 Newcastle United Transfers
Pardew appointed manager on December 9th, 2010.
Transfers In
James Perch – £1.5 Million
Dan Gosling – Free
Sol Campbell – Free
Michael Richardson – Free
Cheick Tiote – £3.5 Million
Yven Moyo – Free
Hatem Ben Arfa – £7 Million (£2 Million Loan Fee plus £5 Million)
Shefki Kuqi – Free
Total Spent: £12 Million
Transfers Out
Fabrice Pancrate – Free
Nicky Butt – Free
Wesley Ngo Baheng – Free
Frank Wiafe Danquah – Free
Jonny Godsmark – Free
Darren Lough – Free
Daniel Williams – Free
James Taylor – Free
Callum Morris – Free
Max Johnson – Free
Michael McCrudden – Free
Andy Carroll – £35 Million
Total Income: £35 Million
Profit / Loss 2010 – 2011 Season: £23 Million Profit
2011 – 2012 Newcastle United Transfers
The Season we finished fifth in the league…
Transfers In
Mehdi Abeid – Free
Yohan Cabaye – £4.3 Million
Demba Ba – Free
Sylvain Marveaux – Free
Gabriel Obertan – £3.25 Million
Davide Santon – £5 Million
Rob Elliot – £300,000
Papiss Cisse – £9 Million
Total Spent: £21.85 Million
Transfers Out
Sol Campbell – Free
Shefki Kuqi – Free
Kevin Nolan – £4 Million
Ben Tozer – Free
Patrick McLaughlin – Free
Matthew Grieve – Free
Daniel Leadbitter – Free
Andy Mogwo – Free
Ryan Page – Free
Ben Robinson – Free
Aaron Spear – Free
Wayne Routledge – £2 Million
José Enrique – £6 Million
Joey Barton – Free
Fabio Zamblera – Free
Kazenga LuaLua – £1 Million
Jóan Símun Edmundsson – Free
Sweden Ole Söderberg – Free
Total Income: £13 Million
Profit / Loss 2011 – 2012 Season: £8.85 Million Loss
2012 – 2013 Newcastle United Transfers
Transfers In
Romain Amalfitano – Free
Gaël Bigirimana – Undisclosed fee, £750,000 (fee believed to be around £500,000-£1,000,000 so we’ll split the difference)
Curtis Good – £500,000
Vurnon Anita – £6.7 Million
Mathieu Debuchy – £5.5 Million
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa – £6.7 Million
Yoan Gouffran – £1.4 Million
Massadio Haïdara – £2 Million
Moussa Sissoko – £2.1 Million
Kevin Mbabu – £1 Million
Total Spent: £26.65 Million
Transfers Out
Alan Smith – Free
Peter Løvenkrands – Free
Danny Guthrie – Free
Samuel Adjei – Free
Phil Airey – Free
Ryan Donaldson – Free
Stephen Folan – Free
Tamás Kádár – Free
Greg McDermott – Free
Patrick Nzuzi – Free
Ryan McGorrigan – Free
Daniel Taylor – Free
Jeff Henderson – Free
Michael Hoganson – Free
Alex Baird – Free
Billy Ions – Free
Ben Sayer – Free
Louis Storey – Free
Lee Toland – Free
Leon Best – £3 Million
Fraser Forster – £2 Million
Demba Ba – £7 Million
Xisco – Free
Marcus Maddison – Free
Michael Riley – Free
JJ Hooper – Free
Dennis Knight – Free
Nile Ranger – Free
Total Income: £12 Million
Profit / Loss 2012 – 2013 Season: £14.65 Million Loss
2013 – 2014 Newcastle United Transfers
Transfers In
Olivier Kemen – £350,000
Total Spent: £350,000
Transfers Out
Yven Moyo – Free
Alex Nicholson – Free
Lee Desmond – Free
Alex Kitchen – Free
Esteban Cardona Lopez – Free
Bradden Inman – £100,000
Danny Simpson – Free
James Perch – £750,000
Steve Harper – Free
Yohan Cabaye – Fee is undisclosed, but I’m comfortable with saying £20 Million (courtesy of this article from the guardian)
Dan Gosling – Free
Conor Newton – Free
Shola Ameobi – Free
Michael Richardson – Free
Steven Logan – Free
Brandon Miele – Free
Jonathan Mitchell – Free
Total Income: £20.85 Million
Profit / Loss 2013 – 2014 Season: £20.5 Million Profit
2014 – 2015 Newcastle United Transfers
Transfers In
Ayoze Perez – £1.6 Million
Jack Colback – Free
Siem de Jong – £7.5 Million
Remy Cabella – £8.5 Million
Emmanuel Rivière – £6.3 Million
Daryl Janmaat – £5 Million
Karl Darlow & Jamaal Lascelles – £7 Million
Total Spent: £35.9 Million
Transfers Out
Dan Gosling – Free
Shola Ameobi – Free
Steven Logan – Free
Brandon Miele – Free
Jonathan Mitchell – Free
Conor Newton – Free
Michael Richardson – Free
James Tavernier – Undisclosed fee, believed to be around £400,000
Romain Amalfitano – Free
Mathieu Debuchy – Undisclosed fee, believed to be around £12 Million
Total Income: £12.4 Million
Profit / Loss 2014 – 2015 Season so far: £23.5 Million Loss
Overall Season Transfer Fees Combined
So, let’s take a look at the overall profit and loss from the seasons combined:
- 2008 – 2009 Season: £6.85 Million Profit
- 2009 – 2010 Season: £20.75 Million Profit
- 2010 – 2011 Season: £23 Million Profit
- 2011 – 2012 Season: £8.85 Million Loss
- 2012 – 2013 Season: £14.65 Million Loss
- 2013 – 2014 Season: £20.5 Million Profit
- 2014 – 2015 Season so far: £23.5 Million Loss
When you combine the profit / loss for each season, it looks like we end up with Mike Ashley making a total profit from transfer fees of £24.1 Million.
Given the owner’s business model of buying players with potential, and then selling them off once the club receives an offer that meets their valuation, the total profit amount shouldn’t come as a surprise. As supporters of this football club, we should expect that this pattern will continue for the foreseeable future, as long as Mr. Ashley is at the helm.
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