The Premier League dilemma facing Eddie Howe and Newcastle United as summer transfer window deadline approaches

The summer window has been open since Friday, June 10 and has seen Newcastle bring in four additions thus far.

Matt Targett, Nick Pope, Sven Botman and Alexander Isak have all joined the ranks this summer, adding great quality to Eddie Howe’s starting side.

With just a few days left of the window, Newcastle are still looking to press on with adding even more to their squad with loan moves, usually concluded in the final-hours of the window, very much on the cards.

Players like Conor Gallagher, Armando Broja and Christian Pulisic have all been linked with moves to Tyneside this summer and although any of the trio would be a good addition to the Magpies, there is a major consideration Newcastle will have to take into account before signing off on any new deals.

Their quintuple of January arrivals meant Ciaran Clark, Jamal Lewis, Jeff Hendrick and Isaac Hayden were all left out of Eddie Howe’s 25-man Premier League squad and the Newcastle United head coach faces a similar dilemma this week.

As it stands, Newcastle have 29 senior players on their books – meaning at least four players are set to miss out when Howe names his 25-man Premier League squad following the conclusion of the transfer window – and that’s before if or when any new players are signed.

Only Elliot Anderson, who has been regularly involved with first-team matters this season, doesn’t need to be registered as he qualifies as an Under-21 player.

Unlike this time last year, Newcastle won’t name four goalkeepers in their squad so it is safe to assume that one of Karl Darlow, Mark Gillespie or Martin Dubravka will miss out.

Dubravka has been heavily-linked with a move to Manchester United recently and after being left-out of the last two matchday squads - the Slovakian could be on his way to Old Trafford.

If Dubravka stays at the club, then a move for Darlow could be on the cards - if not, then it may be Gillespie that is the casualty.

Further up the pitch, the arrivals of Botman and Targett could mean that players like Federico Fernandez or Javi Manquillo may be at risk of being cut from the squad - although injury to Emil Krafth may give the Spaniard a reprieve.

Krafth’s ACL injury may mean he is one of the players to miss out with his return to action unlikely to come before January.

Fernandez, on the other hand, has recently been linked with a move to Stoke City in a move that could spell the end of his four year stay on Tyneside.

Matty Longstaff has yet to play a part in any matchday squad this term and, after featuring for Mansfield Town at the end of last season, has been linked with another loan move to the EFL this summer.

There is, of course, plenty of time for both incomings and outgoings at St James’s Park before the summer transfer window closes on Thursday at 11pm - and Howe has one or two big decisions to make that could have a huge impact on how his side shape up between now and January.