Eddie Howe has admitted that it will be 'very difficult' for Newcastle United to sign a player on loan next month because 'not many clubs' want to help the Magpies.

There remains a desire at all levels of the club to strengthen when the window opens on New Year's Day, but Newcastle are conscious that any mid-season moves will have a knock-on effect on what the black-and-whites can do in the summer. Newcastle narrowly avoided a PSR breach back in June, following the 11th-hour sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, and various senior figures at the club have repeatedly stressed that they do not want to find themselves in that situation again.

A loan move could potentially spare Newcastle a huge immediate fee - although Manchester United did make an eye-watering demand for Jesse Lingard in 2022 - and Howe has previously said such deals are 'very valuable'. Newcastle, for instance, signed Lewis Hall on loan, initially, from Chelsea with an obligation to buy, which enabled the club to carry over the transfer fee to the following year's accounts, while the black-and-whites also previously brought in Matt Targett on a temporary basis before a permanent transfer was negotiated with Aston Villa for the defender, who played his part in the club pulling away from danger in 2022.

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Going back further, Joe Willock proved a transformative loan signing in January, 2021 but much has changed since those days in the Ashley era when Arsenal did not consider relegation-threatened Newcastle to be a club with big long-term ambitions. In fact, it was less than a year ago that Howe said Newcastle 'can't use' the loan market because the club did not have 'many friends'. Not much has changed in that regard.

"The loan market is an easy one to chuck out there and go, 'Let's look at loans,'" the Newcastle boss told reporters. "But the reality of those loans is very difficult for the reasons that you have said there, really.

"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. Now, I think it probably becomes more difficult."

It is certainly a very different landscape compared to years gone by. The punishments previously dished out to Everton and Nottingham Forest for PSR breaches have focused minds in boardrooms up and down the country - trading was down last summer - and Newcastle even stepped away from a loan move for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips last January for financial reasons. Although that proved a blessing in disguise, Howe was the first to admit that the regulations have had a 'dramatic effect on the speed of the journey' because there is 'nothing more sobering than a points deduction in terms of changing what you have to do to comply'.

Newcastle are set to announce club-record revenues of more than £300m, but the Magpies remain restricted by the APT rules introduced in the aftermath of the takeover in 2021. These rules ensure all commercial deals with companies linked to a club's owners are independently assessed to establish they are of fair market value and Newcastle, tellingly, voted against proposed amendments to the regulations last month whereas Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United were among those who backed the changes.

Clearly, it is going to take many years for Howe's team to bridge the revenue gap on such sides at a time when champions Manchester City have just posted a Premier League record turnover of £715m.

"Yes, I think it will," Howe added as his side battle to reach a second Carabao Cup semi-final in three years on Wednesday night. "That's something separate to me, of course, but I know those talks, those discussions and a willingness to improve our revenue streams are ongoing.

"I'm sure they will continue to think of ways that we can do that which can help us in our PSR battle. That's for other people to probably give you more than I know."