Newcastle's 'unpredictable' transfer admission as training ground upgrade vow made

Eddie Howe has admitted it is 'very difficult' to predict what will happen in January - but the Newcastle United boss would be 'surprised' if it was a busy window.

Newcastle have previously used the mid-season trading period to good effect under Howe, signing Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn et al when the relegation-threatened Magpies desperately needed reinforcements in 2022, before making a move for Anthony Gordon a year later. However, the points deductions that have since been dished out to Everton and Nottingham Forest for PSR breaches have focused minds in boardrooms across the country.

Newcastle, for example, stepped away from a loan move for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips last January for financial reasons, which ultimately proved a blessing in disguise, and the black-and-whites later dashed to raise funds through the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh before the end of June to avoid a PSR breach. Senior sources at the club have repeatedly stressed that Newcastle never want to be in that position again and the Magpies ultimately ended last summer in profit after walking away from a move for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi because of the Eagles' demands.

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Although Newcastle's pursuit of Guehi proved there were some funds available, Howe has since warned the club have to be 'really careful regarding our spending due to PSR' - even when it comes to offering star striker Alexander Isak a new contract - as each move obviously has a knock-on effect on what can be spent in future windows. So what could January bring?

"It's unpredictable at the moment," Howe told reporters. "It's very difficult to see what is going to happen.

"I know no one wants to hear it, but January is always a difficult window in every way so I don't think we should necessarily go into it expecting anything different from any other previous January.

"Transfer trading, generally, was down last summer compared to the previous summer so will this January then follow suit and it's quieter across the board? Possibly, yes. These are things that don't go in favour of a busy window so without wanting to make predictions, I'd be surprised if it deviated from that."

There are bound to be discussions concerning the upcoming window during the final international break of the calendar year and Howe has indicated that he will become more involved in talks towards the end of November. However, the Newcastle boss reiterated on Friday that he will 'always try to get more of what you have and the best out of whatever resources you have available'.

That is what Howe has done since taking charge of Newcastle on this day three years ago. Although Howe has admittedly spent upwards of £450m in that time, Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock, Joelinton, Jacob Murphy and Callum Wilson are among the survivors from the Ashley era who have more than played their part in the club's transformation under the Magpies boss.

These individuals were playing for a side that once looked destined for the Championship; now they are desperate to take Newcastle back into Europe after sampling life in the Champions League last season. There has been a clear change of mindset across the board, but Howe 'always wants more'.

"It's about improving everything we do," Howe added. "If you look at the training ground and walk around the training ground, it's unrecognisable from the training ground that we first walked into, but it can't stop.

"In three years' time, that training ground won't be in the class that it is in now so you can't stop development of any aspect of the football club. Football changes so quickly and the demands change so quickly so we have to keep apace with that.

"There have been extraordinary changes, really. You go to any department, any area of the football club, like the academy, and it's unrecognisable, but we have to keep pace with every other club because the demands are so high so that's what we will try to do."