Alan Shearer mocks Mike Ashley after Newcastle owner buys House of Fraser for £90m… but fails to splash cash in transfer window
The Toon owner spent just £16.5million in the summer transfer window and club legend Shearer was quick to have a pop at Ashley on social media
ALAN SHEARER has taken a cheeky dig at Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley after he splashed out £90million to save House of Fraser - just a day after a poor transfer window for the club ended.
Ashley, who also owns Sports Direct, has secured a deal which will keep the 59 stores open but refused to splash the cash in the transfer window once again.
Shearer was amazed that Ashley was willing to spend such big money the day after the summer transfer window closed, joking that House of Fraser was a new Newcastle signing.
In response to a tweet breaking the news about Ashley's takeover of House of Fraser, Shearer tweeted: "What position does he play?"
And the spending on House of Fraser means Ashley paid over five times as much to save the retailer as he did on summer signings, leaving Shearer and fans baffled.
One Newcastle fan labelled the move as "the most Mike Ashley thing he could do" and others made jokes highlighting the contrast between House of Fraser and Sports Direct.
Meanwhile, some rivals fans could hardly contain their joy at the latest Ashley move to anger Newcastle supporters.
The Sports Direct owner spent just £16.5m this summer on new recruits, despite selling striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham for £22m.
Rafael Benitez brought in Martin Dubravka for £4m, Fabian Schar for £3m and Yoshinori Muto for £9.5m.
Kenedy and Salomon Rondon were both signed on loan and former Swansea midfielder Ki Sung-yueng was a free transfer.
It means the club's transfer record signing remains Michael Owen, who joined from Real Madrid for £16m in 2005.
Benitez's side begin their Premier League campaign at home to fellow money-savers Tottenham tomorrow lunchtime.