One specific quality continues to crop up in recruitment conversations
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe(Image: 2025 James Gill - Danehouse)
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Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has admitted the height of potential transfer targets is something they have carefully considered in recruitment conversations.
The Magpies have got one of the most physically imposing teams in the Premier League and the arrival of 6ft6in Nick Woltemade and 6ft3in Malick Thiaw has only added to that.
Newcastle now have 14 outfield players who stand at six foot tall and above in their squad and that has helped them become a threat on set-pieces but also an intimidating prospect to come up against.
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And when asked whether a player's height has become more important when it comes to recruitment conversations, Howe admitted it is a 'vital' component of his Newcastle side.
"I think it's always been vital for me that you have, as I said, the height in the right areas of the team, because if you don't, I think it does give you problems.
"You can have a very, very good player for the position, but if you're looking around and going, well, if these group of players are going to play with each other, we're not going to be big enough, that can give you long-term problems.
"So it's always a talking point within the coaching staff, when we're looking at players and what positions and what profiles, how big they are."
It may also go some way to explaining why Newcastle have introduced long throws to their attacking arsenal, with new set-piece coach Martin Mark at the centre of those plans.
"Martin's come in and he's done a really good job," Howe added.
"I think he immediately said he wanted to work on a long throw, so that was the inspiration behind it. And then, of course, as you say, it's been a trend this season in the Premier League.
"Long throws don't work unless you have a long throw, so it's good to see that we've got a couple of options.
"And we've got a group of players that sort of have a long throw, but not as long as maybe Dan and Tino, but we're working on them to try and get them longer. So we have a few more options."