Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has reportedly told sporting director Dan Ashworth to ‘pull out all the stops’ to land his top three summer transfer targets.
Howe has a huge summer ahead of him with the Magpies set to return to the Champions League having last played in the group stage of the competition 20 seasons ago.
The north east outfit are well ahead of schedule having been taken over by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in October 2021.
Many expected them to be competing for the top four after two or three seasons but in their first full season without Mike Ashley at the helm, they are third with six games remaining.
No team has lost fewer Premier League games this term and Howe’s side have the best defensive record having conceded 26 goals, three fewer than Manchester City.
Howe is working absolute wonders and deserves an incredible amount of praise.
He has spent a fair whack since being given the job, but it would be fair to say that many people expected Newcastle to be a lot more free-spending than they have been.
In fact, their approach has been very conservative. Initially, after they were taken over, some fans expected to see the club pursue the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Harry Kane.
That has not been the case, however. They have bought smart and invested in young players who can help them reach their goals right now.
Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman have all been hugely successful since being bought for big money, meanwhile, cheaper and more experienced players like Kieran Trippier and Nick Pope have been excellent.
Last summer was a huge transfer window for Newcastle, and this year’s summer window promises to be even more important with Champions League football set to return to St James’ Park.
From the outside looking in, it has to be said that Howe should be looking to sign another left-back and forward as his priority, while the addition of a centre-back and defensive midfielder would not go amiss.
Fabian Schar has been solid this term but is obviously not the long-term answer next to Botman in the heart of Newcastle’s defence.
A new left-back coming in at the end of the season feels inevitable and the Geordies have been strongly linked with Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney – who is also attracting interest from Manchester City.
Tierney’s injury record is a bit of a worry, but he would be a stellar addition and is surely open to the move having fallen out of favour under Mikel Arteta.
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