According to iNews reporter Mark Douglas, Newcastle United are no longer interested in investing in defensive reinforcements in January.
The Magpies had an underwhelming summer in the transfer window and after a less than desirable start in the Premier League, there is hope that the January market will afford the club the chance to improve their squad.
Newcastle suffered their second defeat of the season last weekend at St James’ Park against Brighton and Hove Albion, and for some it had been a long time coming given the lacklustre performances that have been seen throughout the campaign so far.
Indeed, there was a strong desire in the summer to bolster the defensive line with both Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman undergoing ACL surgery earlier this year, however, that ship sailed when a strong attempt to sign Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi did not pay off.
The North East giants offered a reported £60m to the South London club for their centre-back, but after much back and forth right up until Deadline Day, nothing materialised.
Now, it is looking like Newcastle will move on from their failed attempt to add depth and quality to their defence and will instead turn their attention to their attacking threat in the January transfer window.
According to iNews reporter Mark Douglas, Dan Burn had his option to extend beyond 2025 triggered due to a string of good performances in the centre-back partnership with Fabian Schar, covering the absence of Botman.
This has led to a massive U-turn in the club’s recruitment strategy as they will no longer focus on adding another defender to their squad when the transfer window opens in January and will instead put their full focus on fixing the problems in the attacking third.
It is claimed that Eddie Howe and Paul Mitchell will be working on bringing in a new right winger to improve the threat in front of goal, giving Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak more quality on the right flank to bond with.
Will Newcastle sign new players in January?
There is no doubt that there are plenty of improvements needed when the transfer market reopens if Newcastle are going to have any chance of competing for qualification in European football.
A Champions League qualification has already been achieved by Howe since the Saudi-led takeover three years ago, however, if the club wants to compete with the big six they will need to maintain their quality and continue to reinvest in talent.
Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy currently compete for the position on the right wing, and neither have been offering enough in attacking opportunities to keep their place in the first team much longer.
With Isak struggling to hit the ground running and Gordon asserting his dominance in a deeper role on the left side, it has left little opportunities to convert chances and they have only managed to find the back of the net collectively eight times in the Premier League this season.
The injection of a direct and tenacious right winger with a high level of finishing ability would undoubtedly improve the current attacking woes on Tyneside, but finding the ideal profile of player half way through the season will be no easy task for new sporting director Paul Mitchell.
With that being said, if the reports are true then supporters will be delighted that the club are taking their undesirable start to the season seriously and would warmly welcome another goal threat into the team.