Eddie Howe confirms Newcastle United transfer ‘discussions’ but has major PSR warning

Newcastle United’s last two transfer windows have been rather quiet with the club failing to sign a single senior player during January before adding just two outfield players in the form of Lloyd Kelly and Will Osula to Eddie Howe’s squad during summer. The Premier League’s clampdown on their Profit and Sustainability Rules mean the Magpies need to take those restrictions into consideration also.

Avoiding a mad scramble, like seen at the end of June with the departures of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, will be top of the club’s priorities for the winter and summer windows. However, they also need to strengthen a squad which has seen little refresh in over a year.

Howe, his staff and those not away with their country went on a trip to Saudi Arabia during the international break where, as Howe revealed on Friday morning, discussions surrounding the January transfer window took place: “Loose discussions I would say.” Howe responded when asked about whether talks had started.

“We will sit down in the next couple of weeks and firm up those conversations with more detailed analysis of where we are going to go, or where we can go.

“It’s not as straightforward as maybe everyone will think it’s going to be, this is going to be a complex window for us. There are lots of decisions to make in lots of different ways. We are always mindful of the fact we have to comply with PSR.”

Newcastle were heavily-linked with a move for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi during the summer window, but were not able to get a deal for the Eagles man over the line. A combination of reluctance from Palace to lose one of their key players, coupled with Newcastle wanting to avoid any PSR issues in the future meant that a deal for the 24-year-old was not possible during that window.

A move for Guehi is not off the cards in January, but there is the belief that they will have to balance any new signing with a sale, such are the constraints put on them by PSR: “With PSR, there is no pot of money that we have sitting there waiting to be spent.” Howe admitted.

“It’s all about trading in and out and making sure at the end we comply at PSR, and that is the first port of call with us as a football club. We have to comply, as we did last year.

“Then, of course, we are looking to improve the squad at every opportunity we can and there is a determination from everyone at the club to do that. So it’s about getting that balance right.”

Newcastle’s hopes of increasing their revenues ahead of that window were dealt a major blow on Friday morning when Premier League clubs voted to pass amendments to the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules. It’s understood that Newcastle United were one of four clubs that tried to veto the changes at a meeting of all 20 Premier League clubs in London.