Newcastle 'do not think it's right' to talk about Chelsea deal after 'creative' PSR move failed
Newcastle United tried to be 'creative' with free agents last summer - but Eddie Howe did not think it was right to talk about the club's pursuit of Tosin Adarabioyo ahead of facing his Chelsea side.
Newcastle signed Lloyd Kelly on a free and Howe's team also made a move for fellow defender Adarabioyo back in June. Securing these free transfers so early in the window could have enabled Newcastle to focus on other areas in the transfer market that needed strengthening, such as the right wing, but Adarabioyo ended up joining Chelsea.
Newcastle ultimately spent a lengthy period attempting to broker a deal with Crystal Palace for another centre-back, Marc Guehi, but the black-and-whites stopped formally bidding for the England international several weeks before the window shut because of the Eagles' eye-watering demands for a player with less than two years left on his contract. Newcastle finished the 'most difficult' summer of Howe's career in profit, but could things have been different if the Magpies signed Adarabioyo?
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"I don't think it's that simple, but we were exploring a couple of free transfer deals that we feel could have certainly given us a bit more freedom," Howe told reporters before the trip to Stamford Bridge. "When you're in our position, with PSR being very tight, you have to be creative.
"Your first look can't necessarily be the big financial signings and the big outlay of transfer fees and wages because you know there are future problems ahead and you're going to have to be smart and navigate your way through them. We were looking at the free transfer market and Lloyd Kelly was one that we feel was really smart business. I don't think it's right for me to talk about other individual targets, but, certainly, that's something we did explore."