Newcastle United's scouting department will continue to clock up the air miles this month regardless of their ability to spend this winter.

As reported by Chronicle Live on January 16, head of recruitment Steve Nickson was spotted in the stands at Brentford for the 2-2 draw with Manchester City. Nickson was believed to be running the rule over Bryan Mbeumo and Sepp van den Berg. And we reported this week that Nickson was again on duty last Friday night at Lille's 2-1 win over Nice to check out 2025's most sought after free transfer in Canada international goal machine Jonathan David.

The feeling at Newcastle this month is that the Magpies must sell to buy if they want a January purchase. That means that the more headlining-grabbing recruitment will take place later this year.

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Howe told Chronicle Live: "I have always said we have to do the work. So we have to prepare as if we can (sign players this month).

"That is the best way to be. We have done the work and we know what we potentially would do. We know what positions we would potentially recruit in. It's not for me to talk here.

"It is just so that everybody knows that the work has gone on. Otherwise, you lose track of the market and you lose track of players. You lose valuable knowledge that we may need in the future. We have done all the work we need."

Howe said it was a case of "never say never" this month but knows that any possible deal hinges on outgoing business - something he's unwilling to do given the squad size. If Newcastle were to push boundaries on the PSR front - and buy without selling this month - that would mean they'd need a sale before June 30.

That's the date that caused plenty of panic for Newcastle last summer when Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh were sold to fill a financial blackhole and avoid a points deduction from the Premier League. Anderson joined Forest for £35m and Brighton paid United £30m on Minteh.

Howe reflected: "I don’t know how many times I’ve got to say it. You never say never. I don’t want people playing this back to me, saying I lied, but at this moment, we have not been active in terms of incoming.

"You couldn’t have been much clearer on that. The message has been the same since December that you won’t sign anyone.

"Probably even further back than that. I’m certainly not lying. I would never intentionally lie to the supporters or anybody. We are not in a position to be active in the market as we sit here now. That might change if something happens [in terms of outgoings]."

The three players who could potentially leave this month seems to be fringe stars Miguel Almiron, Lloyd Kelly and Odysseas Vlachodimos. The Greek goalkeeper has some interest from Saudi Arabia and with Nick Pope nearing fitness, a deal could be struck if the terms are acceptable to Newcastle, who paid £20m for Vlachodimos in the summer when he joined from Forest.