Reporter reveals FOUR star strikers who were 'keen' to join NUFC - only for Ashley to mess it up!
During a fascinating piece for the Chronicle, Mark Douglas has admitted that former targets Aubameyang, Lacazette, Batshuayi and Remy ALL would've joined Newcastle - only for Mike Ashley to offer way below their asking prices.
This sums up the Graham Carr era for me. I honestly believe that he was, in general, a very good scout who would've brought some top talent to NUFC if only Ashley had sanctioned his A, B and C targets - not F, G and H (e.g the cheaper options).
This is perhaps summed up by the fact he put forward Alexandre Lacazette to the NUFC board in the summer of 2014, but (as confirmed by the Chronicle), we baulked at Lyon's £16m demands and instead signed Emmanuel Riviere for £6m. That sums it up really.
Here's a snippet from their latest piece:
"He (Graham Carr) would put players into the board that would cost more than £15million but soon realised that there was no real will to go out and get them.
"It was this way that they missed out on a permanent deal for Loic Remy (twice), Michy Batshuayi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette during the days when United shopped almost exclusively in Ligue 1. All four would have joined United; Newcastle did not come close to the asking price for any of them."
Pretty harrowing stuff really, and perhaps proof of just why Rafa Benitez is facing a bit of a losing battle in his bid to bring top players to Newcastle this summer.
If a neutral ever wanted to find out why we want rid of Mike Ashley so much, show him this.
