'We have' - Eddie Howe confirms Newcastle United talks after £33m Premier League deal agreed
Eddie Howe admits Newcastle United have watched some of their transfer targets move to other clubs this month.
It comes after Gairat Khasbiullin, the agent of Abdukodir Khusanov, claimed the Magpies were close to signing the defender before he sealed a £33million move to Manchester City from RC Lens last week.
Khasbiullin also referenced United’s spending restrictions due to Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
“Newcastle were very close to the deal,” Khasbiullin said. “They even remained one of the favourites [to sign him], and then was the last to leave the race with City. As far as I understand, financial fair play also had an impact.
“They didn’t have enough time. Perhaps if they had made an offer earlier, they would have had time to come to an agreement. Then City put so much pressure on Lens that it was difficult to make a comparable offer. It was also influenced by the fact that the French needed this money.”
“We have identified players that we would like to sign,” said Howe when asked directly about Khusanov. “We have spoken to the representatives because you have to do the process right. If something happens and we are able to recruit, you can't then start from zero.
“We are seeing players that we identified, liked and targeted move to other clubs, but that's always part of the game.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle were also understood to have shown an interest in Sierra Leonean defender Juma Bah but he too was snapped up by Man City. The 18-year-old will spend the rest of the campaign on loan at Lens.
Howe isn’t expected to strengthen his squad before the January transfer window closes next Monday, marking the third successive window without a major signing.
“The challenge for us is when you go a long period of time, and that can bring you challenges, not impossible challenges to overcome, but some hurdles I think you have to navigate,” Howe added.
“My wish has always been to try and recruit a player every window, to bring that fresh face, to boost everybody, to increase competition, loads of healthy reasons and research behind that and we’ve always feel we’ve done well off the back of that.
“Now of course we did bring players in in the summer, yeah, a different type of profile of signing and I think that is certainly a challenge for us.”