Eddie Howe insists that everyone inside Newcastle United wants to improve the squad in January but “nothing is absolutely fixed” and he cannot confirm yet whether they must sell in order to buy.
Newcastle are restricted by the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and, given their lower revenue streams, they must offset expenditure by bringing in money from player sales.
The head coach is keen to sign a right winger and a centre-back, but admits that Newcastle are operating within a complicated financial landscape and he cannot guarantee there will be mid-season additions.
“You want a lot of clarity there, I’m not sure I can give it to you,” Howe said on whether Newcastle can sign anyone next month without selling. “Of course, I know the picture, but the issue with PSR and the issue with our position is that nothing’s ever clear cut because it’s not… I’d need some time to sit down and sort of go through everything with you, which I’m not going to do anyway, so that’s irrelevant!
“We will try and do our best. I keep saying the same things, we’ll try and do our best. Nothing’s absolutely fixed at the moment. There’ll be a lot of twists and turns, but the want from everyone internally is to try and improve the squad.
“If we can do, we will. If we can’t, we won’t. (In future due to PSR) we’re going to have to be clever with what we do (trading-wise).”
In June, Newcastle sold Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to plug their PSR shortfall and, while Howe will not rule out potential further exits next month, he is hopeful that the club will avoid being forced to lose any other youngsters or key players.
“What I’ll say on that is that trading is essential, both in and out, to the model of PSR,” Howe said. “I think the days where teams don’t sell players, unless your revenue streams are so big, are gone.
“So I think our revenue streams aren’t where we want them to be ultimately, we’re trying to grow them. So I think trading in and out is going to be essential. Hopefully, it’s not players that we’re forced to sell like we were in that situation with a couple of days to go, and deadlines approaching. Hopefully, it’s in a more stable setting, but you can’t guarantee anything.”
Sitting in 12th, Newcastle travel to Brentford, who are only a place above them in the table, tomorrow in the Premier League. Kieran Trippier missed the 3-3 draw with Liverpool due to illness and will be assessed today, while the XI which started in midweek must also overcome fatigue to keep their places.
“We did have a lot of tired bodies after the game. Sandy (Tonali) was getting cramps at the end of the game, Anthony Gordon was getting fatigued, Alex (Isak) worked extremely hard and was tired at the end,” Howe said. “We have some selection discussions to make today about change and continuity.”
Sven Botman, meanwhile, is closing in on a return to competitive action, having been out since March with an ACL injury.
“He’s doing well,” Howe said of Botman. “The initial moments in training were very much passive and making sure he didn’t do too many duels. He is fully training and has done a couple of 11 v 11s, he’s looked very good.
“He’s still a couple of weeks off playing competitively. But he looks good. He needs to rediscover how to do things on autopilot but it’s been a big boost to have him in training. He’s a big guy, a big presence.”
(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
