Newcastle almost faced deprivation of points in the Premier League this season | Football | Sport

Newcastle United boss Paul Mitchell has admitted that if the club had not offloaded Yankuba Mintech and Elliot Anderson, they would have been in danger of losing points in the Premier League.

The controversial sale of two young players netted Newcastle £65 million in a move that prevented them from breaking profit and sustainability rules.

Despite sporting director Mitchell joining the team later in July, he admits he feels several years older due to summer tensions in the transfer market, which saw Newcastle navigate a labyrinth of financial regulations that resulted in new signing William Osula and Odysseas Vlachodimos received the modest sum of £35 million.

A failed attempt to sign Marc Guei from Crystal Palace left a feeling of disappointment as the window closed.

Addressing his supporters at the We Are United event at STACK, Mitchell joked: “A lot of people won’t believe I’m 21! Before July I looked much better than after September.

“But no, I think this is a difficult situation in the world of football. Definitely, for me, I probably underestimated this appearance.

“I would like to say that Darren, Eddie and the team in June, in a very difficult situation for the club, allowed us to create a platform where we do not have a points deduction.”

The ex-Wigan Athletic defender added: “They took brave and difficult decisions for the good of the club. This is one of our responsibilities as custodians of this club.”

“They did a great job. “It’s unfortunate that we lost two very talented young men, but it has given us the opportunity to continue to grow and achieve success on the field.”

“I can’t reiterate enough what a huge amount of work was done in June to make sure we were as financially sound as we were in performance.”