Blackburn Rovers got the better end of £5.5m Newcastle United transfer agreement
Things did not work out for Grant Hanley at St James’ Park
Blackburn Rovers have enjoyed plenty of success stories when it comes to players graduating from their academy in recent years.
Many who have made that step-up, have gone on to become important players at senior level for the Ewood Park club.
One such individual who certainly comes into that particular category, is centre back Grant Hanley.
After rising through the youth ranks at Blackburn Rovers, the Scotsman made his debut for the club as an 18-year-old in May 2010.
He would eventually become something of a mainstay at the heart of the club’s defence, even becoming club captain for a period.
In total, Hanley would make 200 appearances in all competitions for Blackburn. However, his time at Ewood Park did not last forever.
Blackburn got a decent fee for Grant Hanley
Hanley’s exit from Ewood Park came in the summer of 2016, when he made the move to Newcastle United.
At the time, the Magpies had just suffered relegation from the Premier League. Even so, it was reported that they still paid Blackburn £5.5million for the signing of the defender.
Upon making the move, Hanley signed a five-year contract, that was supposed to secure his future at St James’ Park until the end of the 2020/21 season.
In the end though, that was not a deal that exactly worked out for either the player, or Newcastle themselves.
Grant Hanley found things tough at Newcastle
While the 2016/17 season was certainly a positive one on the whole for Newcastle, as they secured an immediate promotion back to the Premier League, it did not work out when it came to Hanley.
Unlike during his time at Blackburn, the centre back found it hard to establish himself in the starting XI during his debut campaign at St James’ Park.
Indeed, he featured in just 10 of the Magpies’ league games during that promotion winning first season at St James’ Park, with only five of those appearances coming as a starter.
As a result, the defender’s time at Newcastle would ultimately prove to be much briefer than the contract he initially signed with the club, suggested it would.
In August 2017, little more than one year into his five-year deal with Newcastle, and having spent just a single season with the club, Hanley was on the move again.
This time, the defender was sold back to the Championship, this time joining Norwich City for a reported £3.5million fee.
Consequently, this is not a deal that worked out for Newcastle. On the pitch, the centre back had a limited impact, even in a side that won promotion, and so was unable to help them kick-on from that success, despite his contract length suggesting they believed he could do so.
