Former Real Madrid and Middlesbrough defender believes St James’s Park will be ‘rocking’ under Eddie Howe with Newcastle set to battle Tottenham Hotspur for Ajax goalkeeper

Eddie Howe has nine days to get his squad ready for the visit of Brentford.
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Here, we round up all the latest stories that have emerged today surrounding Newcastle United:

Howe’s reported transfer priorities

Whilst the January transfer window may still be a few weeks away, Amanda Staveley confirmed today that preparations to strengthen are already underway.

Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in Ajax's Andre Onana (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in Ajax's Andre Onana (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in Ajax's Andre Onana (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
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Newcastle sit 19th in the table, five points adrift of safety, meaning new head coach Eddie Howe has a great job on his hands to ensure Premier League survival this campaign.

According to Football Insider, Howe has already identified three key positions in the squad that he would like to strengthen.

Two centre-backs and a centre-midfielder ‘proven at the highest level’ are reportedly on his wish list for January as Howe aims to improve the spine of his team.

Players like James Tarkowski, Conor Coady, Niklas Sule, Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot have all been outed around as potential recruitments, and would all fit the reported requirements.

Former defender’s Instagram message

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Newcastle’s appointment of Howe has got supporters largely excited about the future of the club with many believing the former Bournemouth boss is the right man to take the club forward.

This view is shared by Jonathan Woodgate who took to Instagram to share his optimism about Newcastle’s future.

Woodgate wrote: Great appointment. That place will be rocking with him in charge.

Woodage played just shy of 40 games for Newcastle before his move to join Real Madrid in 2004.

Ajax goalkeeper on radar

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Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Inter Milan look set to do battle over Ajax ‘keeper Andre Onana.

Onana hasn’t played football since receiving a nine-month ban by UEFA, later reduced to three months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, for testing positive for a banned substance, however, this has seemingly not deterred the trio of clubs registering an interest in signing him.

Antonio Conte is reportedly a fan and, according to 90min.com, he wants to bring the ‘keeper to North London when his contract in Amsterdam expires in the summer.

Conte sees Onana as a replacement for Hugo Lloris, however, they may face competition from Newcastle who are reportedly on the hunt for a goalkeeper and have been linked with Barcelona’s Marc-Andre Ter Stegen recently.

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