The Newcastle United dressing room view on the club's predicted summer transfer business

The club, after 14 unambitious years under Mike Ashley’s ownership, has ambitious new owners who are no longer content with making up the numbers in the Premier League.

If, and it's still an “if”, the club can stay up this season, then Eddie Howe and the club’s hierarchy will look to strengthen the club’ squad ahead of a push for a top-10 place next season.

United were linked with some big names and big deals in January, and the club spent ore than £80million on five players, including one loanee.

Howe warned that too much speculation can unsettle players after taking charge last November following the departure of Steve Bruce.

There was a lot of focus on Newcastle’s search of a central defender in January – the club eventually signed Dan Burn after failing with moves for Sven Botman and Diego Carlos – and captain Jamaal Lascelles addressed the speculation around the club when he attended the opening of NUCASTLE, the new home of the Newcastle United Foundation.

The team won’t change “overnight”, and the challenge for Lascelles and his team-mates is prove they can be part of the “new” United.

Asked if it was “difficult” for the players to deal with it, the defender said: “Not really, because everyone who is involved in Newcastle at the moment is in a good situation.

“When you see all the superstars being linked to Newcastle, the thing is, we don’t know how true that all is.

"We also know that you cannot completely change a football team overnight, it’s going to be gradual. Even if that is what this club eventually turns into, it’s what is happening now that matters to us, and all I know is the players who are here, we want to be involved with this football club for as long as we possibly can.

"It’s a great thing at the minute. It will be fascinating to see how that all develops in the next year – and beyond that.”

The club is 15th in the Premier League table, and 10 points above the relegation zone, with seven games to play.

Newcastle take on ninth-placed Leicester City at St James’s Park on Sunday.