It was an incredibly difficult summer for Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe.
It started with Newcastle United’s PSR nightmare, and that was swiftly followed by Eddie Howe becoming a contender for the England job.
The Magpies managed to ride out those two storms, only for the summer transfer window to end with no major signings.
Newcastle United failed to sign Marc Guehi, despite the 24-year-old being Eddie Howe’s top target. Paul Mitchell failed to deliver, and then deflected the blame away from himself.
By the end of the transfer window, you could argue that Newcastle United were weaker. They lost two immensely talented youngsters, with Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson leaving the club.
And one of those departures hurt Eddie Howe immensely.
How Eddie Howe felt about selling Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest
Newcastle United had a PSR shortfall of around £70million heading into June 30th, which meant they desperately needed to move some players out the door.
Elliot Anderson ended up being a victim of Newcastle’s PSR situation, with the midfielder joining Nottingham Forest for £35million. Odysseas Vlachodimos moved the other way, with the Greek goalkeeper costing £20million.
It was a deal made out of necessity, rather than a desire to get rid of Anderson. He was a local lad who had earned the trust of Howe, and clearly had a bright future at St James’ Park.
However, that future quickly vanished, as Anderson was forced to join Nottingham Forest.
And, according to the Telegraph, selling Anderson to Forest was one of the most difficult decisions that Howe has made during his managerial career. The Telegraph note that this has come from someone close to the Newcastle United manager.
In defence of Newcastle selling Anderson
While it was obviously devastating to see Anderson to leave, it was enforced. Newcastle simply had to bring money into the club or suffer a future points deduction. PIF did not want a points deduction, which meant Newcastle had to do whatever it took to comply with PSR.
Newcastle did that by making some hard decisions. Selling Minteh was sad, as he was a player with a huge amount of potential. He is already impressing at Brighton, and Jamie Carragher has stated that Newcastle will rue selling Minteh.
But the winger never actually played for Newcastle. In contrast, Anderson had been an important player under Howe, and looked on course to enjoy a breakthrough year in the black and white of Newcastle.
However, it could be argued that Anderson’s minutes at Newcastle would have been limited. With Sandro Tonali back from suspension and Joelinton and Joe Willock over their major injuries, Howe was suddenly well stocked in the middle of the park.
Even without Anderson, Newcastle have six senior centre-midfielders. Anderson would have made it seven, which is arguably too many.
While Howe was devastated to see Anderson leave, it was a difficult decision that made the most sense. Someone had to go, and selling Anderson was more palatable than getting rid of a major star like Anthony Gordon or Alexander Isak.
But that does not make Anderson’s departure any less painful, and every time he excels for Nottingham Forest will be a constant reminder to Howe of what might have been, had it not been for Newcastle United’s PSR disaster.