Eddie Howe on Newcastle United’s striker transfer efforts

Eddie Howe on Newcastle United’s striker transfer efforts



Newcastle will press on with their plans to finalise the signing of Yoane Wissa in the coming days after Brentford agreed a deal to sign Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara. That should pave the way for Wissa to finally get the Newcastle move he craves.

But the Magpies remain in the market for another striker this summer amid the ongoing situation with Alexander Isak, who is refusing to play.

Newcastle have missed out on a number of leading targets this summer, with Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Benjamin Sessko having all opted to instead move elsewhere, and with just over a fortnight of the window remaining, options for the Magpies are limited.

“It’s a small field,” admitted Howe.

“The centre-forward market this year is as tight as I’ve ever known it. But we’re still actively looking and I think there is someone there to meet our requirements.”

PSG striker Goncalo Ramos is said to be one of the strikers on Newcastle’s radar, with reports yesterday claiming there’s now a belief a deal could be possible in the current window.

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Despite the challenges they’ve faced in a rollercoaster summer window, Newcastle have still made three key first team additions and were yesterday putting the finishes touches to the signing of Jacob Ramsey from Aston Villa.

And Howe praised the work of those behind the scenes in negotiating a challenging window without a sporting director following the exit of Paul Mitchell early in the summer.

“I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t want an active role in the recruitment of players,” said Howe.

“I feel I have to have an active role in the recruitment of players. When you welcome a player through the doors here into your squad, you’ve got.to have a plan for them, you’ve got to know where they fit, and to do that you have to love the player.

“So I think I’m an important part of that piece, but obviously without a sporting director, I’m not there to negotiate the deals or the transfer fees. It’s a very complicated process now.

“The things that you have to do to sign a player now is so much more complex than it used to be, so that’s where you need a really, really good team, away from the footballing decision to actually get the deals done. I feel we have that.  There’s been no issue with that, that hasn’t stopped us signing players.

“Obviously we’ve been in competition with other clubs for players and ultimately we’ve lost out on a few. That happens, it’s always been there. But no, I think the recruitment processes in such of identifying the players, finding the ones that we want, it’s been fine. It’s worked well as it has in other seasons.”

Efforts to find a new sporting director are ongoing, and, after short stints in the role for Dan Ashworth and Mitchell, Howe says it’s important that whoever gets the role is in it for the long run.

He said: “I think it’s a long-term position because you need to put plans in place to make the structure of how we work smoother, more streamlined long-term planning with the academy, all the hiring of staff and making sure you’ve got an elite performance, running all through the club. They’re long-term decisions and you need to stick with that to see the long-term effects.

“It’s been unfortunate that we haven’t had that, certainly in the last couple of years. Fingers crossed – I don’t want to put too much pressure on whoever comes in, but fingers crossed we can get that this time. ”



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