Newcastle forced to pay £20m extra to Brentford for Yoane Wissa after inflation hit says finance expert
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Credit: Manh Tung - Breaking Media / Imago
Ben Palmer
Tue 2 September 2025 18:39, UK
Newcastle paid Brentford £55million for Yoane Wissa on deadline day but a deal could have been done for a much lower fee.
That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider exclusively that the Magpies had paid a premium for the DR Congo international for several reasons.
Eddie Howe‘s side was the headline act of the Premier League’s transfer deadline day.
Newcastle signed Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart on 30 August, paving the way for Alexander Isak to join Liverpool after a summer of speculation.
But with Callum Wilson departing to West Ham earlier in the window and William Osula’s future uncertain, there was a need to add another body to the striking department.
Newcastle ultimately signed Yoane Wissa with just minutes to go before the window closed, although they were forced to pay a “premium” for the 28-year-old.
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This article contains exclusive comment from Dan Plumley, a football finance expert and senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.
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Speaking to Football Insider exclusively, Plumley explained how the lateness of the transfer and the deal being between two Premier League clubs had contributed to Newcastle paying £55m [Sky Sports] for the striker, despite Wissa having just one year remaining on his contract at Brentford and turning 29 on 3 September.
When asked whether the fee Newcastle had spent on the striker was an overpay as a result of leaving the deal so late, he said: “Yes, I think it is.
“The closer you get to deadline day, the price is going to increase.
Again, you’ve got the selling club not wanting to sell, so that’s another factor.
Credit: Imago
“And the other things that we’ve seen around that inflation in the middle of the transfer market over the years, and again, we’re talking on the other side of this about a British record transfer fee that’s been broken twice this summer, that creeps the highest number up, and then everything else adjusts accordingly.
“You get that inflation in the middle of the market, so a £35m-40m transfer in July can easily become £55m on deadline day, and it’s just the nature of the game that we’re in.
“When it’s a Premier League club to a Premier League club, you anticipate that you’re gonna have to pay a bit of a premium on that as well.
“The notion of if it’s over the odds, or have they significantly overpaid is always going to be in the background of the optics, because of the way the transfer market’s working at the minute.”
Newcastle were forced to pay over the odds to secure Wissa’s signing, and the move came as a result of Isak’s desperation to leave.
The Swedish striker had not been involved in any of the Magpies’ opening games of the 2025/26 campaign, and he trained separately in preparation for a move to Anfield.
Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media
Despite the loss of their best striker in recent years, a sliver of a silver lining is the fact that Newcastle will not pay Isak a loyalty bonus, despite not handing in a transfer request.
The ironically-named bonus was negotiated out of his move to Liverpool, saving the North Eastern side a seven-figure pay-out.