We are entering the closing stages of the January window and the tune continuing to emerge from Eddie Howe is a familiar one: Newcastle United are not expecting to do any incoming business - as it stands.

That could all change, of course, depending who departs in the coming days but the Magpies' financial situation has been well-documented. With profit and sustainability rules [PSR] continuing to threaten, the powder is being kept dry for the time being.

With limited resources to spend without recouping those funds with a big-name exit, there is little Newcastle can do. The loan market is one option - but one the north east outfit have so far been reluctant to assess.

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Former sporting director, Dan Ashworth, was equally hesitant to bring in players on a temporary basis when he was at Brighton - given the club's penchant for signing rare gems from further afield - and instead used that market to loan out those young, inexperienced Seagulls' signings such as Moises Caicedo to ensure they got first-team football.

However, the former Manchester United boardroom chief certainly saw the benefit of scouring the loan market, as seen at West Brom and Newcastle, when transfer funds were at a minimum.

"Loans are really good if you haven’t got a transfer fee, a good way of getting a good player," he told the Athletic in 2021. "You don’t have that long-term obligation and, as you get towards the end of the window, if you’ve got a last-minute need or injury (they can come in)."

Howe and Newcastle's sporting director Paul Mitchell know this. It is even a topic that has been put the manager plenty of times in press conferences and standalone interviews in the last 18 months. Usually, it is met with the same response.

"The loan market is an easy one to chuck out there and go, 'Let's look at loans' but the reality of those loans is very difficult," Howe said just last month. "Who is going to want to help us?

"Not many football clubs. There were probably a lot more loan options that you could do in previous years before the rules changes. I think now it probably becomes more difficult."

It is almost 12 months to the day since Howe uttered a similar answer before Newcastle went on to make just one signing in the 2024 winter market, bringing in 18-year-old Alfie Harrison from Manchester City for the club's youth setup.

“I’m not sure there’s many clubs out there that are willing to help us currently," he said 12 months ago. "To agree a loan deal, you need the club to agree to that deal, so we’re in that moment where I’m not sure we have many friends in the market.”

Have Newcastle simply become too much of a threat to their once friends, now European-chasing rivals? Quite possibly.

Under Ashworth's watch Newcastle actually struck two loan deals for players in the same area of the pitch. Matt Targett arrived from Aston Villa for an initial fee of £3m before he was purchased permanently in the summer for a total of £15m.

Chelsea also allowed Lewis Hall to leave on loan initially, costing £4m for the season, before Newcastle stumped up £24m the following year when obligated to make the deal permanent. On that occasion, Howe's side were offsetting a hefty transfer fee after a summer of heavy spending on the likes of Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento.

The chances of Aston Villa and Chelsea - two clubs also seeking every penny they can get due to PSR concerns - loaning unwanted players to Newcastle at this stage of the season is high unlikely - as Howe says.

Mitchell has yet to take a leaf out of his predecessor's book anyway - despite a tough transfer window and a half since his summer arrival. Howe's XI arguably hasn't been strengthened since the summer of 2023 and both he and his boardroom chief have grand visions of how they can take this team to the next level.

The word coming out of St James' Park is that these type of deals may have passed Newcastle by for the time being. It is a negative of their success that they cannot now go to the Premier League's biggest sides and ask for help, even if temporary.

It is another added difficulty of the transfer window in the modern game. They remain hamstrung by controversial financial rules, despite being profitable, debt free and constantly growing their revenue streams. Howe knows there will be no 'friends' coming to Newcastle's rescue, which adds to the likelihood of a quiet end to January.