Newcastle United's official response to 'approach' reports for £50m-rated Aston Villa star

Eddie Howe has denied that Newcastle United have made an approach for Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey.

The Magpies head into the final few days of the January transfer window having not made a new signing this month, and that is likely to remain the case unless a first-team player is sold.

The Athletic notes that Villa value Ramsey over the £50million mark and could sell to help comply with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability (PSR). But when asked if Newcastle had approached Ramsey, Howe said: "That's incorrect."

Financial constraints, i.e PSR, have restricted Howe's ability to strengthen his squad, which has been depleted by injuries, this month.

Rather than hope for incomings before Thursday's deadline, Howe is more focused on keeping the squad intact with Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron linked with exits in the last week.

"Keeping the squad intact, as the manager, trying to produce a team to win games would be the one for me," said Howe. "But we are guardians of the club’s future and we want to make the right decisions for the club’s future and for FFP.

"We don’t want to breach FFP. That is where I will support the decisions that are made for the long term and that will benefit the club."

Howe added: “Nothing’s changed. It’s copy and paste before and after the Fulham. I’ve got no fresh news to give you. We’re still waiting to see what will happen."