Eddie Howe reflected on an ultimately uneventful transfer window for Newcastle United in which no new signings were made.
Newcastle United had no real intention to strengthen in the winter transfer window, with Eddie Howe claiming the club lacked the financial capabilities to do so.
The Magpies toyed with the idea of strengthening in defence due to the lack of options at the back. A loan recall for Matt Targett from Middlesbrough was explored, but didn’t come to fruition.
Despite suffering injuries to Fabian Schar and Tino Livramento during the transfer window, Newcastle still refrained from making a move.
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Eddie Howe on no signings for NUFC
Reflecting on the window following deadline day, head coach Eddie Howe said: “The squad is okay. I think if it was a fully fit squad, it'd be really strong in all areas. Of course, it's not.
“So we need to get our injured players back fit. Until we do that, I think there'll be a slight imbalance and we're certainly stretched defensively. But yeah, of course, I'm very happy with the squad.”
When pressed on why Newcastle didn’t make any signings, Howe explained: “Financially it wasn't possible.
“As I said right at the start of the window, there may have been players that we were looking at that were for the future, younger players that we could develop. But ultimately, nothing happened. I didn't think there was going to be a player coming in that was going to affect the first team.”
‘A risk’ for Newcastle United
Given the side are still (just about) fighting on four fronts and currently sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table, Howe admitted it was a ‘risk’ not to spend in the winter window but felt the club’s hands were tied by the financial rules.
“Yes [it’s a risk],” Howe said. “We were left with no other option really. I think we have to. Every decision we make has a long-term implication.
“So there's no guarantees that even signing someone with the funds that we had available would help us short-term anyway. So it is what it is.
“We've been used to sort of working in these conditions now for a while. I think we've only been active in one transfer window out of the last four or five. So I think we're under financial restrictions.
“We have to be really, really smart. And we've decided to wait until the summer.”
The reality is Newcastle’s situation is somewhat self-inflicted by the £250million summer spend on the likes of Anthony Elanga, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.
When asked if the club are paying the price for spending what they did on the players they did last summer, Howe responded: “Well, the summer just gone, we're preparing for a season probably like no other in a sense of games, and that schedule has been realised.
“So, I think the issue we have is getting injuries to players in one position. That's left us vulnerable. I think there was no intention to recruit in January. The summer business was with a view to getting through to next summer.”
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