Steve Bruce reveals £20m "war" with Mike Ashley and the January bargain he refused to sanction

Steve Bruce has revealed the ‘war’ he went through with Mike Ashley to sign Callum Wilson, also explaining how close he came to signing Jarrod Bowen. 

The former Toon boss has suggested that, while many think he was ‘lovey-lovey’ with our former owner, he and Mike Ashley were at ‘loggerheads’ when it came to making the deal for the Bournemouth striker. 

Wilson was signed for around £20m back in 2020, becoming one of few big-money signings over the age of 26 - he was 28 at the time - that Mike Ashley sanctioned due to his obsession with sell-on value.

Bruce also admitted to wanting to sign current West Ham man Jarrod Bowen from Hull in 2019, stating he had the winger waiting in a service station on the M1 while he tried to ‘scramble’ the funds together. 

But we ultimately missed out on the now England international because Ashley was unwilling to part with the £20m that was being demanded by Hull, meaning Bowen signed for the Hammers instead.

Speaking on the Die For Three Points Podcast, Bruce said:

“Let me tell you, the loggerheads I had with Mike Ashley

“Everyone thought I was lovey-lovey with Mike, but to get Callum Wilson over the line it was practically war.

"He was 29, he had the odd injury, big money and he broke the wage bracket at the time as well.”

Bruce then explained how close he came to signing Jarrod Bowen, explaining how West Ham beat us to his signing back in January 2020:

"The big one I missed on at Newcastle was Jarrod Bowen who we'd actually signed at Hull from Hereford United for about £50,000. I watched him come through, great kid.

"I had him parked in the service station on the M1 waiting to see if we had the permission, to see if I could scramble the funds to make it happen.

"But I couldn’t get the money together and he went to West Ham instead.