“My fee was about £16m, it gets reported as a couple of different figures, but you would have thought even in this day and age moderate players can go for similar figures. I know they sold players for a lot more. Every single time I tend to read an article about a Newcastle transfer I’d get a mention in it so hopefully they’ll leave me out now.”
“I have watched a bit of him and he looks a talented player. He’s been successful in the American league, whether that can translate is the big question. I’m a big believer that you can’t just go and buy one attacking player or a centre forward and think, ‘Right, we’re going to score goals now’.
“The teams that score lots of goals, they’re attacking teams rather than just having great centre-forwards. You’ve got certain players in certain positions that have all got a real tendency to go forward. It’s another piece of the jigsaw and if they get some more players of that quality they can start playing more of an expansive game.
“I think they will survive. I don’t think it will be pretty from that point of view. It looks like there’s one, maybe two, relegation places up for grabs for four or five teams. Newcastle are one of those teams but you’d expect them to survive.”