Former Newcastle United transfer consultant Nick Hammond has discussed his temporary role at St James' Park and his message to the new owners. The Magpies were Europe's biggest spenders in the mid-season window, splashing in excess of £90m to bring in five new players.
Amanda Staveley has confirmed in recent interviews that this outlay was higher than initially planned, but borne out of necessity due to Newcastle's predicament heading into the new year. United were winless by the time the club changed hands on October 7, with their first league success coming under Eddie Howe against Burnley two months later.
Newcastle remain locked in a stand-off with Brighton over the appointment of former FA technical director Dan Ashworth, with former Celtic transfer guru Hammond brought in on a temporary basis ahead of the January window. Initial transfer meetings saw the consultant work alongside co-owners Ghodoussi, Staveley, Jamie Reuben and head of recruitment Steve Nickson.
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He told the Training Ground Guru via i News: “I said to [the new owners] at the start, ‘This will be the hardest transfer window you ever have’ because you are literally a group of people coming together in a very short space of time and having to hit the ground running. Fortunately there’s a very experienced head coach there, a clear thinking guy, very precise in terms of what he wants.
"That is critical for a head coach – that clarity is massively important and thankfully Eddie Howe gave that. The owners were fantastic supporting him in terms of that.”
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