Eddie Howe delivers fresh Newcastle United transfer message as talks take place
Eddie Howe wants “quality over quantity” as Newcastle United push for a breakthrough in this summer’s transfer window.
The Magpies announced the signing of four players on July 1 with Lloyd Kelly joining on a free transfer from AFC Bournemouth and Lewis Hall completing his permanent move from Chelsea. The other two recruits are goalkeepers with Odysseas Vlachodimos arriving from Nottingham Forest while John Ruddy penned a one-year contract after leaving Birmingham City as a free agent. United are yet to make a new signing since with Howe admitting there is a need for more.
Asked if anything is close in terms of incomings, Howe said: “Not as far as I know.” He added: “I don’t personally think we are close to anything, but as I said before I highlight the need that we do need to bring players in.”
A centre-back, right forward and a striker are three key positions being looked at.
"We hope to add, definitely. We have recruited four players but two are goalkeepers, so we have quite a bit to do in the outfield part of our squad,” the Newcastle boss told reporters at Adidas’ Herzogenaurach HQ.
"We have a hangover of injuries from last year which we knew about going into pre-season - Joe Willock, Matt Targett, Tino Livramento still aren’t fully training with us. We hope they will come back at some stage in pre-season.
"We lost Lewis Miley off season and we have Sven Botman and Jamal Lascelles still injured. So I think we need to add players, we hope to. But there’s no guarantee."
Recent behind the scenes changes, which has saw Paul Mitchell arrive as sporting director and James Bunce as performance director, has disrupted plans. Conversations are ongoing, and it shouldn’t be long until United delve into the market.
Asked if the club have the funds to spend, Howe replied: "I don’t really know that yet. I think we’re in the process of working that out, because there’s been a change with Paul Mitchell coming in as sporting director. So we’re in a position of getting that settled."