Newcastle United were told in no uncertain terms that the Saudi ownership would not entertain the embarrassment of a points deduction, leaving the club with no choice but to sell Yankuba Minteh to Brighton & Hove Albion, according to the Daily Mail.
However, there was another reason why the Gambian attacker was sold for £33 million, with his sale marking a £27m profit and helping the Magpies plug their PSR deficit and avoid a points deduction.
The Daily Mail claims while there was a want to see how Minteh would fare during pre-season, some senior staff were not convinced he was what Newcastle needed in that role of right-sided forward.
Brighton have been very impressed by the winger since he joined them in June, and those close to the Seagulls have been taken by his work-ethic off the ball.
The 20-year-old has weighed in with a goal and an assist in seven Premier League games so far and will be looking forward to proving Newcastle wrong when he visits St James’ Park with his team on Saturday.
Minteh notched ten goals and five assists in 27 Eredivisie games while on loan at Feyenoord last term, and he is looking like the real deal following his impressive start to life in the Premier League.
The fans will be watching out for him tomorrow and Newcastle will hope he does not come back to haunt them.
While he is far from the finished article, the Gambian forward has shown exactly why the Magpies were willing to take the punt on him.
He has been a key player for Brighton so far, but it remains to be seen if he can produce the goods regularly going forward and prove the doubters at Newcastle wrong in the long run.
