Speaking on Amazon Prime’s broadcast last night, Steve Bruce looked to all but confirm he was shopping in the loan market ahead of the transfer window.
Indeed, the Northern Echo broke that news back in November and The Daily Telegraph recently claimed the Toon boss would have little money to spend with Bruce’s comments alluding to as much.
What did he say?
Following last night’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool, Alan Shearer asked Bruce whether or not he could provide any excitement in terms of potential movement ahead of the window opening tomorrow.
While the Toon boss did suggest those behind the scenes were working on something, he stressed the loan market would be the most likely one in which they shop.
“We’ve got one or two things,” he said.
“We’ve got one or two things we might progress.
“I think we all know how difficult January is.
“Last year we brought in three loan signings which really, really helped us so that’s an avenue which we’ll try and go down.”
The Verdict
It’s not particularly surprising to hear Bruce talk up the loan market.
In a similar situation to last season, it does seem the most likely additions will only be on a temporary basis with the 60-year-old understood to be keen on strengthening both his midfield and defensive options.
The likes of Fikayo Tomori and Phil Jones have both been linked with moves to St. James’ Park and, hopefully, the delayed Euro 2020 tournament can convince players to move in order to play their way into international managers’ thinking.
All three loan signings last season failed to win a permanent move so it’s hard to get overly excited right now but, sadly, that’s the position in which we’re in.
