Almiron Fee Not An Issue – Hayden

Isaac Hayden says Newcastle’s new boy Miguel Almiron doesn’t have any extra pressure on him despite being the club’s record signing.

The Magpies forked out £21million to sign Paraguay international Almiron on Atlanta United on January’s deadline-day and he looked impressive during his first two appearances, both which ended in 2-0 victories against Huddersfield and Burnley.

However, the 25-year-old struggled to make any real impact in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to West Ham United at the London Stadium although the team’s performance as a whole left a lot to be desired.

With Almiron yet to score, there have been suggestions his price-tag is playing on his mind, but team-mate Hayden has rubbished these claims and says the new arrival is coping fine.

“Nobody talks about that in the dressing-room,” he was quoted as saying by the Northern Echo. “When you start to play and train, the price tag goes out of the window.

Nobody is really bothered. “And let’s be honest, whatever the fee was, that amount of money in the Premier League these days really isn’t much.

So with all due respect to him, because he’s a great player, but when you look at West Ham, they’ve got Anderson, £50m. We just get on with it.”