Harry Redknapp names Alan Shearer when making Newcastle United January transfer window call

Newcastle currently sit third in the Premier League table after 15 matches and are preparing to return to Premier League action at Leicester City on Boxing Day (3pm kick-off). Eddie Howe’s side will be hoping to pick up a sixth straight league win when they travel to the King Power Stadium, a ground they were beaten 4-0 at little over 12 months ago.

Although Redknapp doesn’t see Newcastle being able to hang on to a Champions League place, he has backed the club to finish in a position good enough to secure Europa Conference League football for next season at the very least.

But the former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United boss feels that the January transfer window could prove to be crucial.

“I think they can finish in the top seven and they could well make the top six this year,” Redknapp said via BetVictor. “I don't see them finishing in the top four, but I do think and again, it depends on what he spends in the transfer window.

"They've got unlimited money, it's only a matter of time before they're a top-four team. They've got so much money to spend and at the end of the day if you’ve got the money and can buy the top players, you can. That's how the game works."

Although Newcastle have the richest owners in world football in Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Financial Fair Player restrictions effectively limit the club from spending excessively beyond the revenue it generates. The Magpies are not expected to spend in the manner they have in the previous two windows under PIF ownership, but Redknapp feels the ongoing investment in the club will see them challenge for a title in the near future.

“Blackburn won the league with Jack Walker, he went out and bought Shearer and people like that and Sutton and bought top players in,” he added.

“If Newcastle go out and spend big again in the window, then in the next three or four years they will be challenging for the title because the spending power they have, will make that happen, obviously."