Merson says: Jury still out on Newcastle's spending

Paul Merson says Newcastle still face a huge fight to stay in the Premier League despite a £93m spending spree in the January transfer window.

Newcastle emerged as the January window's biggest spenders with the signings of Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn, while Matt Targett also arrived at St James' Park on loan.

With the side embroiled in a relegation battle, the club's new owners will be hoping their new signings can supply an instant boost to their quest for survival, but Merson, speaking to Sky Sports, was left slightly bemused by the club's January business, saying they could rue missing out on signing another forward.

Meanwhile, former Arsenal forward Merson gives his verdict on the club's transfer window, which saw six members of Mikel Arteta's first-team squad, including former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, leave the Emirates Stadium.

Read on for the Magic Man's column in full...

There was a lot of money spent in the transfer window and the bottom five in the Premier League spent half of it. That tells you everything about the desperation to stay in the top flight.

Only time will tell regarding Newcastle's transfer window.

All I can say is that if Steve Bruce had bought in all these players there would have been uproar, and I think that tells you everything you need to know.

If they'd have managed to get Jesse Lingard in that would have been the player with the X-factor they needed, but that hasn't happened.

They haven't bought in that player with a real point of difference in the forward positions. They have bought in players to be more solid, but it is okay being solid, you need that X-factor as well, and I think they may struggle putting the ball in the back of the net.

I still