Premier League managerial departures so far this season
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has been told that he will have a better chance of splashing an eye-watering £250million in January by beating Norwich and Burnley in their upcoming Premier League fixtures. The Magpies, who are backed by their new oil-rich Saudi owners, are widely expected to spend huge sums of money in the coming years.
Howe replaced Steve Bruce last month and will be in the dugout for the first time when his side face Arsenal on Saturday.
The Gunners present a tough challenge but Newcastle then face fellow top-flight strugglers Norwich and Burnley in successive games.
The Tyneside outfit have been linked with several big names ahead of January. Arsenal hero Aaron Ramsey, who is out of favour at Juventus, is one.
Speculative rumours regarding potential transfers for Eden Hazard and Kylian Mbappe have also persisted, despite the pair likely having far more enticing options elsewhere.
Those transfers links married with the fact that Newcastle are bottom of the Premier League make this a unique situation.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe can unlock a £250m transfer dream (Image: GETTY)
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes the Howe’s side can prove to big-name transfer targets that they are serious about remaining in the Premier League by beating their relegation rivals. He has backed them to spend £250m in the January transfer window.
Keown told BT Sport: “They’re in a perilous position but there’s still 78 points available for them to go for and I can’t help but dream of a transfer window where, suppose they buy five players for £50 million apiece - these are incredibly wealthy owners but it’s what they do between now and then.
That’s why the Norwich game, the Burnley game, that follow this are huge matches for this football club. Eddie needs to see a massive improvement.”
Former Newcastle striker Andy Cole joined Keown as a pundit for the club’s clash with Arsenal.
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But Cole is slightly less optimistic about which players they might attract this winter.
“There will be players all over and scattered across Europe whose agents would have been contacted - big names, we’ve seen them all in the newspapers,” Cole said.
“They’ll be sitting there thinking to themselves: ‘Newcastle, great. Premier League, great. I’ll be well paid. Coming to a fantastic club.’
“But, if they’re cut adrift after these set of games [before January] then that cuts down your options and suddenly you’re shopping in a different window.
“I think that was the reason they brought Eddie in because Eddie has proven he can work with players.
Arsenal legend Aaron Ramsey has been widely suggested as a possible Newcastle transfer target (Image: GETTY)
“Players maybe low on confidence, can build a team, build units, and it’s so important they get points on the board.”
Meanwhile, boss Howe, who missed his first game in charge against Brentford due to a positive COVID-19 test last weekend, has attempted to prevent speculation about transfer targets.
“To look too far ahead is a waste of time. I see all the reports linking Newcastle with this player and that player, it doesn’t do any good for the players who are here reading that,” he told journalists during his first press conference.
“I would urge people not to speculate too much. For me it’s the team in the here and now that is my only focus.”
