Eddie Howe drops Newcastle United transfer hint

The club, fourth in the Premier League following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, has spent more than £200million in the last two transfers window. Dan Ashworth, United’s sporting director, said earlier this month that that level of spending was “unsustainable”.

“We cannot spend that level of money every transfer window,” said Ashworth.

However, the club, which had been looking for a winger in the summer, will look to strengthen again in January’s transfer market, nd the focus going forward will be on younger players, according to Howe.

“We’re trying to provide long-term growth, we’ve got a longer-term vision,” said Howe. “At the moment, we have quite an ageing squad, so we probably need to invest in more young players. That’s probably a big part of our progression, really.”

Howe was responding to a question on Cristiano Ronaldo, who rejoined Manchester United last year aged 36.

“We need to get the average age down, so it might not be a signing that we would necessarily look to make – but not under-estimating the quality of the player,” said Howe.

Newcastle signed forward Garang Kuol from Central Coast Mariners last month. The plan is to loan out 18-year-old for the second half of the season when he formally joins United in January.

"Our philosophy is to invest in our Academy and in exciting young players for the future, as well as in players required to make an immediate impact in the first team,” said Ashworth.