Newcastle United Manager Eddie Howe is celebrating with Miguel Almiron
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has spoken about the "reality" of the January window for the Magpies.
Claims from European media have suggested that United are close to deals for Real Valldolid's Abdulai Juma Bah and PSV Eindhoven's Johan Bakayoko. But Howe has expressed his surprise at any talk of deals being lined up for January 1 when the window opens for business.
When asked about reports of imminent deals he told Chronicle Live: "It does (surprise me). Because that is not the reality we are not close to any transfer or signing any player.
"For me, the discussions in January are very loose. We know are restricted to what we can and can't do. For me, it is purely about focusing on coaching team."
Howe's own players such as Miguel Almiron, Martin Dubravka and Kieran Trippier have all been linked with the exit door. But Howe re-iterated that he didn't want to lose players.
Howe, speaking at his press conference ahead of the trip to Ipswich, said: "It is not something I want to see, read about of for the players to read about. Everyone who is contracted to us I want them focused on what we are doing.
"It's been very, very loose discussions. There hasn't been many discussions in great depth on January and that's because we've got a lot of games. Our focus is on the matches and we're restricted to a degree in what we can and can't do. So I don't think that's our main focus at the moment, certainly not mine anymore. But of course we're aware January's around the corner and we'll need to be reactive and ready."
When asked if he stuck by his Wednesday night vow that nobody would be leaving, Howe offered a little more leeway on the prospect of outgoing deals.
Howe said: "There is always a possibility. It has to be in conjunction with what we need and always balancing the long-term future of the club. Hopefully, we won't lose anybody we don't want to to lose."
"Everything has to align. A lot of things need to come together for us to do that. It has to be right and not just for the here and now, but for the future now."
The press conference also offered Howe the opportunity to respond to last night's Carabao Cup draw after being paired with Arsenal over two legs. He said: "We were due a tough game whoever we got and I watched it with interest last night. The game beforehand (Spurs 4-3 Man United 3) was an unbelievable game to watch. When you get to this stage of the competition, you know the quality of the teams is very high. We've had some good games against Arsenal in the last couple of years so we'll look forward to that."