Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann has warned Newcastle United that they first need to avoid relegation before dreaming of anything bigger in future.
The Magpies have grand plans and ambitions following their takeover by the Saudi Arabian public investment fund earlier this month.
Their new owners are officially the richest in the business, with a fund available to them that far outweighs those available at the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain.
Big things are expected, and many are predicting strong investment in the transfer market as a result, given the current Newcastle squad needs a lot of help.
If they are to achieve big things, they will need to be in the Premier League, something that is far from certain at this moment in time after they went through their first eight games without a win.
That’s something Bachmann was quick to warn about when discussing the recent takeover in his blog for Kronen Zeitung.
“It will certainly be very interesting in the next few years. I’ve written down how much money Man City have, how much money you spend, what the salaries pay etc.,” he said.
“And for comparison, the owner of Manchester City has a fortune of 20 billion dollars. And now? This consortium that took over Newcastle has a fortune of 430 billion dollars.
“(But) the main goal in this year simply to stay in the Premier League. You can say, I think, that three points after eight games and um, you can already see that someone is fighting for relegation.
“That is, of course, now the main goal, because then you don’t have all the money miracle if you relegated you have to play in the second division.
“So yes, for Newcastle, despite all the money, it’s simply a matter of staying in the league, and then I think only from the summer onwards they will then have a completely new team.”
While sounding a little downbeat on Newcastle’s goals this season, the Watford goalkeeper can see a bright future down the line.
The new powers in charge at St James Park have made it clear that the club is a long-term project, with the plan very much to follow what has been done at Manchester City since their takeover.
That saw heavy investment in the playing squad but also in the club in general, with improved training facilities, staffing and even an expansion on the Etihad stadium.
Newcastle are expecting the same, and Bachmann can see the Magpies challenging for honours in just a few years time.
“Invest, and it will certainly be interesting to see,” the Watford stopped added.
“I could already imagine that at Newcastle, because of the size of the club; they’re a giant club with a stadium that is one of the best stadiums in the league.
“In 2-3 years time they’ll certainly be competing for mid-table and Champions League titles.
“I could very well imagine that and, as I said, because of the size of the club, they’ll certainly be able to attract a lot of great players.”
