Newcastle won’t pay ‘silly’ money for players, says Eddie Howe

Eddie Howe has insisted Newcastle will not pay “silly” money to further strengthen their squad at the same time as admitting they may have to sell in January.

The Magpies open their new Premier League campaign at home to Southampton on Saturday still locked in negotiations with Crystal Palace over their £65million-rated England defender Marc Guehi, the kind of marquee signing which has so far eluded the club this summer.

Head coach Howe declined to comment on reports that a fourth bid had been tabled for the player and revealed there was “nothing close” on the transfer front.

But asked if there was a point where Newcastle, who have spent in excess of £400million since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund bought a controlling 80 per cent stake in October 2021, would walk away from a deal, he replied: “We have done many times in my time here.

“Especially early on where there was very much a ‘Newcastle tax’ on any deal where when we would ring up, the price would double, so many times we were, ‘No, that’s not for us, we’re not going to go down that road where we feel we’re overpaying for players’.

“That’s changed slightly because people have seen the dynamic, that we’re not going to pay silly fees for players, so I think now it’s returned more to normality.”

The Magpies have had to tip-toe through a financial minefield in the last year or so in order to meet profitability and sustainability rules, and have reluctantly sold promising youngsters Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh this summer in an attempt to stay within the boundaries.

Getting set for Saturday.