Luke Edwards has provided a realistic transfer update for Newcastle United fans.
What’s the latest Newcastle United transfer news?
It’s perhaps only natural for Newcastle fans to get excited.
With Eddie Howe turning the season around, planning for a first summer window under the PIF ownership can start, even if there is still an outside chance the team could be dragged back into the relegation fight.
Given just how well the first transfer window went, with the likes of Matt Targett and Dan Burn providing crucial Premier League experience alongside the more headline-grabbing additions of Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes, optimism is aplenty on Tyneside.
Still, that doesn’t mean it’s a case of silly season all of a sudden.
Indeed, these are still early days in Newcastle’s new era and it’s vital those in charge continue to make the correct decisions.
What did Edwards say?
Taking to Twitter, the Daily Telegraph journalist wrote: “Since writing that #nufc will not be making superstar signings earlier this week I’ve seen spurious links with them being interested in Bale, Rudiger and Pogba on free transfers. They are not pursuing any of them. That is simply not the market they are operating in.”
Is this the right approach?
Absolutely.
Clearly, it’s tempting to imagine big-name players arriving and raising the level of the team, potentially helping challenge towards the upper echelons of the Premier League.
However, this is clearly a long-term project. Not moving for huge names on huge contracts right away does not signal a lack of ambition, it’s just that Newcastle have so far to go in so many areas until they can feasibly attract the calibre of player needed to take on the established elite for the right reasons.
Amanda Staveley herself has admitted the training ground needs a lot of work, while Howe is believed to have wanted to keep the wage structure largely in place in January so as not to disrupt the changing room too much.
Newcastle are building. There is no need to rush.