Newcastle boss Eddie Howe answers transfer question about Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has played down the prospect of the St James' Park club making a move for Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who will have aspirations of helping United secure a fourth straight win in all competitions when they face Newcastle at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, is out-of-contract at the end of the season and speculation about his future is already mounting. The Reds do have the option to extend his stay by a further year but that is highly unlikely to be triggered, such was the 37-year-old's desire to leave during the summer.

Unsurprisingly, numerous clubs have already been linked with the possibility of signing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner on a free transfer next summer. Chelsea and Napoli were most heavily linked with signing him in the most recent transfer window and it remains to be seen if they will be interested once again in a little under a year's time.

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Newcastle, too, have also been occasionally linked with an ambitious move for Ronaldo in the gossip columns, such is the financial clout they now have available to them. However, manager Howe, who has done a terrific job since taking charge last November, has distanced the Magpies from the possibility of signing the Portugal captain, pointing towards a recruitment policy that will see them target players of a younger age.

"We're trying to provide long-term growth, we've got a longer-term vision," Howe told reporters. "At the moment, we have quite an ageing squad, so we probably need to invest in more young players.

"That's probably a big part of our progression, really. We need to get the average age down, so it might not be a signing that we would