Keith Downie gives more detail on how Newcastle missed out on Victor Munoz

Today has been a day of unbridled rage on the Newcastle United side of social media after Liverpool snaked what looked to be a nailed-on transfer from under Newcastle's nose.

It looked for all the world that Victor Munoz was set to become a Newcastle United player. Newcastle had been informed by his agent and the player himself that he was moving to Tyneside, only for Liverpool to snatch the deal at the last minute.

Naturally, the reaction of Newcastle fans is one of anger, and we definitely share that sentiment, but a lot of the rage is being pointed at the wrong places.

There's a lot of anti-ownership and anti-Eddie Howe sentiment kicking about today and cries of "why didn't we just get it done and stop messing about?" which do seem like valid points on the surface, but Sky Sports' Keith Downie has made a video addressing the reality of the situation.

Keith Downie outlines the real issue with Newcastle

Downie put out a comprehensive post on X this morning explaining that Newcastle's bid was accepted by all parties; it was simply a change of mind by the player, and in his YouTube video, he has gone into more detail.

"Firstly, this isn't PR spin. This is having spoken to a number of different people and I think it's probably a fair reflection of where we are at. It's not good, although it doesn't look good on Newcastle as a club; what you do need to realise at this moment in time is that Newcastle are a football club without any European football, without any Champions League. And sadly, when you come up against clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United and Man City, like we've seen in recent times, it's a hard sell, and players see Newcastle still, and I've been saying this for a while now, as a stepping stone, and this is a case in point here.

"Liverpool were always there. They were always at the table. They were always interested, but they hadn't quite shown the colour of their money. They weren't as far down the line with it as Newcastle were. Now, I'm told that Newcastle had agreed a fee with Osasuna for Munoz. That's £29 million up front plus £4.3 million in add-ons. This is crucial to stress here. This is a fee that Osasuna accepted. Osasuna were happy with what Newcastle were offering.

"Liverpool have come in late, also agreed a fee with Osasuna, and the player has chosen to go to Liverpool. Now we're going to have to try and find out exactly why that is. My understanding or my sort of guesswork here would be that he's chosen Liverpool because it's Liverpool, you know, they won the title just last year. They're in the Champions League. 

"I'm told Newcastle also had an agreement with the agent for the agent fees and they were putting the wheels in motion into getting a medical started. They were told to hold off. They were waiting for the outcome of the Real Madrid elections because, obviously, Real Madrid have a stake in the player."

Newcastle simply came up against a harsh truth

Downie also went on to talk about how Munoz had two agents working on the deals, one based in Spain and one in Britain. The British agent had everything signed and sealed, while the Spanish agent went rogue and brokered the deal with Liverpool, and Munoz chose Anfield.

There really wasn't anything Newcastle could have done. The argument that they should have just paid the release fee straight away doesn't hold any water because, aside from the fact that Osasuna were happy with the terms on offer, Newcastle activating the clause would have just accelerated Liverpool's bid and we'd have been done over in the same way, only sooner.

Essentially, Newcastle have once again been slapped in the face by a sad reality. We're not going to win in transfer battles with the 'Big Six'. Their names carry too much weight abroad, and the likes of FFP/PSR/SCR mean we can't financially compete, so we can't even throw money at the problem.

Keep the rage fires burning, but direct them towards the system, Victor Munoz and his Spanish agent!