Eddie Howe sat down today and faced the media for the third time already in 2025 and he could be forgiven at groaning for having to face another series of questions about recruitment in the now active January transfer window.

There are at least nine more January appointments in the diary with journalists for Howe and the questions on transfers will only increase in the weeks ahead. He cuts a calm figure in front of the cameras, but behind closed doors, he has every right to demand answers that arm him well enough for media calls like today.

Howe has hinted before that he should not be the only one to deal with the heavy questions on recruitment. So what price a repeat of Darren Eales or Paul Mitchell facing the Press before the month is over?

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The safety blanket of the window being closed is now behind us and the freezing weather outside the club's media centre reminded us that there is still a long road ahead until spring officially begins. Regardless of the conditions, Howe will cut a much more relaxed figure by February 3 when the window slams shut at 11pm, providing he's held on to his key stars.

We're just a few days away from the 12-month anniversary of CEO Eales telling journalists that "every player" has a price in the unforgiving world of PSR. Whether fans liked it or not, Eales was not masking the truth and when that theory was put to the test six months later, there would be a serious outcry as Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh were sold to Premier League rivals to drum up combined sales of £68million.

Howe had already warned us that Newcastle won't be able to spend big and on the back of last January when nobody came through the door, and last summer when only free transfers like John Ruddy and Lloyd Kelly arrived plus a swap deal for Odysseas Vlachodimos along with £15million purchase of Will Osula, few will need too many reminders on the narrative.

However, it is worth going back over what Eales said to the media over a video call this time last year. He said then: "On any player, at any time, it depends on circumstances. It's difficult to hypothesis but, if we're offered £1bn for one of those players, then no-one could argue against that making sense."

And then on big-name exits, Eales went on: "If you are churning players you create more headroom," said Eales. "We have seen lots of examples of this elsewhere. [Philippe] Coutinho at Liverpool and they brought in Allison and Virgil Van Dijk. [Jack] Grealish going from Aston Villa and they have reinvested and reloaded.

"Decan Rice at West Ham, it's just the nature of the beast. If you trade players on it creates more headroom . You have to keep growing that headroom, increasing commercial revenue and player trading."

Howe faced a bit of a grilling from southern-based journalists before Christmas on Alexander Isak when he was asked if he could hold on to the Sweden star this month. After the 4-0 win at Ipswich, he said he wasn't concerned about losing a player who is under contract until 2028.

Ultimately, however, the Newcastle head coach is as good as those above him when it comes to any hot potatoes in the transfer window, such as the exit of a star player. Howe has stated right from the start of pre-season that transfers should be a "collaborative" operation at St James' Park which prompts the question of whether somebody from the C-suite will face the media at some stage.

The era of Kevin Keegan appearing on the Milburn Stand steps to explain the sale of Andy Cole 30 years ago has been and gone. But selling a star of the same ilk these days would require further explanation of sorts.

As the window grinds towards the end of the first week, he almost pushed the spotlight back onto sporting director Mitchell and those in the boardroom. In fairness, Mitchell faced fans only in November and said that every penny earned by the club would be pushed into the transfer kitty for windows ahead.

In reference to the club's transfer men, Howe said: "Of course, I'm not on the front line, so I'm not necessarily speaking to agents and getting the interactions and the feeling that other people at the club would have a far better understanding of that. But yeah, I don't think it's taking too many turns away from what I thought the reality would be.

"That's not to say that anything is cut and dried because the transfer market is unpredictable. It might just take one big move somewhere that will set a chain reaction off. We're ready for anything and ready to be flexible."

Howe's media briefing lasted 32 minutes, with the questions on recruitment and transfers all coming through after the TV section. But no sooner will the final whistle have sounded at the Emirates on Tuesday night, Howe will probably face another round of Isak questions from the capital-based media, especially if he scores the goals that dent Arsenal's chances of reaching their first Carabao Cup final since 2018.

Howe would finish with a caveat on transfers, perhaps not directed at Isak but more to players he wants to keep but may be forced to sell. It's worth keeping Howe's words on transfers in mind moving forward.

He added: "The business logic is taking over from the football logic. There may be football decisions you'd like to make.

"Nothing was bigger than the previous summer when we had to lose two highly promising young players - we were forced to, we had no choice. That is very much the business taking over from the football. I think we are still in that position."

That sounds like Newcastle may not have much choice but to lose a familiar face this month.