£4 million! That was the astonishing figure that eventually saw Queens Park Rangers relinquish the services of their star player, Charlie Austin. Not £15 million+ that reportedly put Newcastle United off in the summer, not £10 million that Newcastle had the chance to get him for in the summer... not even the £5 million that Newcastle payed for the rotten Emmanuel Riviere... but £4 million. £4 million for a proven... and English... goalscorer. With Newcastle notoriously tight-fisted in the transfer market, that kind of figure for a 26-year-old striker who has always scored goals in his career was surely a huge missed opportunity. Despite a good victory yesterday, there's clear issues in the goals department on Tyneside and with Newcastle not really being linked with any forwards in recent weeks, it's probably become a worrying pessimism for fans that no striker will actually be bought in this transfer window.
Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.
