According to reports in The Sun, former Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan, who resigned on Thursday, wanted to bring in Thierry Henry, David Beckham and Frank Lampard, but the plea was rejected by club owner Mike Ashley.
Keegan reportedly wanted close to a £200m warchest in order to sign the three stars and tie them to contracts with the club but Ashley refused to give him the money, saying that he wanted the club to produce stars rather than buy them.
According to a source close to the North East Club Ashley refused point blank at Keegan's request, and helped make Keegan's decision to resign two days ago, as Keegan felt he had not received the financial backing of the board.
Despite the restrictions on money Keegan was able to bring in Fabricio Coloccini and Xisco from Deportivo La Coruna, and Jonas Gutierrez from Real Mallorca and Ignacio Gonzalez on loan from Villarreal. This cost an estimated combined fee of £20.3m, which in comparison to other Premier League clubs was a small total.
The Newcastle insider told The Sun: "These were the players Keegan really wanted and he didn't seem to care about how much they would cost... But the reaction of the board was 'no chance — we're not spending that sort of money on players like these."
"As far as Mr. Ashley was concerned, he didn't want players that would cost so much. He wanted Keegan to find unknown youngsters who would become the next Beckham and Lampard of their generation."
Newcastle are continuing their search for a new manager, but Ashley's future with the club is far from certain. The fans have made it clear that they do not want Ashley running the club, and the sale of the club to a foreign bidder is looking more and more likely.
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