How much Newcastle United really paid for Nick Pope from Burnley – PIF transfer strategy insight

It is understood that Newcastle paid Burnley around £10million for Pope last month, though that is not technically true.

Burnley’s registration of charge published via Companies House on July 21 addressed the transfer agreement in place with Newcastle United for the purchase of Nick Pope.

After an initial payment, Newcastle are set to pay the remaining transfer fee for Pope in yearly instalments of £2,334,000 in 2023 and £2,333,000 in 2024 and 2025 – totalling £7million.

But the instalments will now effectively be paid to Macquarie Bank after Burnley opted to cash in on the future instalments early in the form of a loan.

This means Newcastle paid as little as £3million up front for the England international goalkeeper.

Newcastle have a similar agreement in place with Burnley for the purchase of Chris Wood with £12.5million paid in January and the remaining £12.5million to be paid by February 2023. A transfer fee Burnley have also cashed in on early in favour of a loan.

It also provides some insight into Newcastle’s transfer business strategy of ‘buy now, pay later’ in order to spread the club’s spending effectively.

This payment structure allows the club to appease financial fair play restrictions while still being able to be active and competitive in the transfer market. Newcastle have already signed three players so far this summer with Pope, Matt Targett and Sven Botman joining for a combined total of £60million – though the up front cost is thought to be considerably lower.