40m for Joelinton is 1 of the worst transfers of the decade.
Reminded me of this:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...s-impossible-hold-Rafa-Benitez-Newcastle.html
[article]Ashley claims the club suspected there would be problems with the Benitez negotiation when he declined to sign off on the £40m deal for new striker Joelinton in February. As manager, Benitez had the final say on all transfers, but would not give the go-ahead on Joelinton even though Newcastle had the fee and personal terms agreed, and the player had passed a medical.
Ashley revealed: 'We delivered Rafa's number one target in January, Miguel Almiron, but Hoffenheim wouldn't sell Joelinton. Then in February they said we could get him early, but it would cost £40m. He was a name we had discussed with Rafa, and our recruitment people had him top of their list. I thought it was one of those that would keep drifting away, but no, we had it done.
'I was so excited to tell Rafa we've got another one coming, but when Lee Charnley, our managing director, had the conversation, his view was that he didn't want to commit to the transfer until he knew what his position was with the club next season. And I didn't get that. Is this the bloke who had given it to me for the last 12 months?
'Proper given me bucketfuls – which I may or may not deserve, but I don't deserve it on this one, because I've done it. I've got his first choice, Almiron, and this other player who was so exciting we thought he'd be out of our range. When we first sat down with Rafa, we didn't think we would pay this much for a player. We'd never done that before.
'From there, the relationship deteriorated very quickly. I was personally very disappointed, and that's putting it politely. I was freaked out. I'm thinking, "I clearly don't understand anything about football" because I'm all for celebrating and going mad and suddenly it's, "No – you've got to sort my deal out first." So we had another few weeks of correspondence and then
it wasn't just his deal, it was that he thought the £40m for Joelinton wasn't worth it. It's too much and the club shouldn't spend it.
'And very occasionally, I get to be me in this world. So here's the deal. I'll pay £20m of it personally. Nothing to do with the club. Above and beyond the budget. Rafa valued him at £20m. So that's what would come out of the club budget. The rest, £23m – I'll pay. And he still didn't sign it off. Looking back, I think he knew for a long time he was going to China because it was like we couldn't do anything. Joelinton was the test.
'Why on earth would you not want that? As a football manager, with all the things you have said, why wouldn't you want Joelinton? It wasn't even as if it was him or Salomon Rondon. And we told him that. We just wanted Joelinton secured.'
Newcastle have a record of their correspondence with Benitez which includes the openness to an eight-year deal, and a pledge of £20m to improve training facilities. There is a revised financial offer in June and talk of a three-year contract. It is only on June 23 at 12.45pm that Benitez announces he will not be signing a new deal.
'He did an amazing job,' insists Ashley. 'Promoted, first year tenth, 44 points – next year, 45 points. Now we've got a solid base to build up and the firepower to have a go. "Right Rafa, it's over to you – hold on, he's gone. Where's he disappeared to? What's happened there?"
'Rafa talked about things he knew we couldn't do and then, when we were in a position to finally do them, and launch the big surprise – no. It's not the money he asked for that upsets me.
What if we hadn't got Joelinton? People don't realise Rafa had the say and we couldn't conclude the deal while he was still our manager. When he left he knew we were signing Joelinton. So he can't say we lacked ambition.
'I'm saying this now because you have to draw a line. Otherwise people are entitled to keep asking – August, September, October, November, why did Rafa leave? I'm not here to defend myself. I'm here to defend Newcastle United; because Newcastle United could not have done any more to keep Rafa Benitez. I can look anyone in the eye and say that. It was impossible to do more.'[/article]
