Harris still confident he can sell Newcastle

Aug 5 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

A reluctance to make major decisions prevented Newcastle slashing their huge wage bill over the summer but the sale of Obafemi Martins has freed the logjam.

Harris admits the wage bill has been a disincentive for buyers, and expects others to follow Martins out of the door soon. He also raised the prospect of players being bought before the transfer window shuts.

“The shock to Newcastle’s revenue line after relegation is very severe,” said Harris, who went on to explain that while Newcastle could cover the costs in the Premier League, they could not outside it.

“It was important to show that players were capable of being sold,” he added. “A potential buyer knows he has an income from a player, as well as having him off the bill and he (Martins) wasn’t suited to the Championship I would expect a few more to leave in the coming weeks and one or two to come in.”

Meanwhile, striker Simon Cox claims it was the confusion at St James’s which means he will be lining up for West Brom and not opponents Newcastle on Saturday.

The 22-year-old left Swindon for £1.9m last month, and claims United were also interested but the confusion surrounding the club made it a non-starter.

“There was truth in that story (of Newcastle interest) but they had no manager so why would I go there?” he said. “If they had been sorted and not in turmoil then it might have been a different story.”