Newcastle take on Premier League leaders Liverpool tomorrow sitting in the bottom half of the table after a disappointing start to the campaign that has seen Howe’s side struggle to match the standards they have set for most of the last couple of seasons.
Their summer transfer activity was limited, with a bid of more than £60m for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi being rejected in the final week of window, raising hopes that major sums will be spent on new signings next month.
However, with the Premier League’s PSR rules continuing to severely restrict the amount Newcastle can spend on transfer fees and wages, Howe has played down the likelihood of big-name additions next month. In fact, the Magpies boss has hinted it could be difficult to make any signings at all in January.
“‘I think there is a desire from everyone at the club to deliver that (a new signing),” said Howe. “But then you have to go to the realities of what is possible.
“You have to make decisions for the here and now, but also for the future. We have to make sure we don’t put ourselves in a position where the summer becomes very, very difficult to do what we need to do, or future windows beyond.
“I think freshness is important in a squad, I won’t sit here and deny that. There needs to be a certain element of trading in and out to keep the group dynamic new. A new dynamic and a new team always has to form every season.
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“Sometimes, the same squad can produce a staleness and a negative product. So, I think we’re aware of that. But it’s about what we’re able to do rather than, ‘I want’. ‘I want’ is clear. It’s what we’re able to do that is the key thing.”
The core of Newcastle’s squad has been in place for a number of seasons now, indeed there are still plenty of players within Howe’s first-team group whose arrival on Tyneside long predates the start of his own tenure as head coach.
That can have its benefits, but it can also lead to a group growing stale, an accusation that has been levelled at the current Newcastle squad on a number of occasions this season.
Howe understands where the criticism is coming from, but insists he and his staff have been doing everything within their power to create a sense of freshness despite a relative lack of new additions.
“We haven't had a huge turnover of players, and that's a slight concern,” he said. “But if you bring too many players in, that can have a negative impact in terms of upheaval of the team and relationships are not forming and vice-versa the other way.
“You can keep that staleness away in various ways - innovation from us in terms of the team, training, loads of team-building stuff and different things you can do to make sure the players are not coming into the same environment.”