Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe says he “can’t guarantee” that he won’t make an unpopular sale in the January window.
Howe was forced to sell Academy star Elliot Anderson and Gambia international Yankuba Minteh to Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively over the summer in order to avoid a points deduction due to the PSR rules. With talk swirling around the club that PSR will impact Newcastle again in January, there have been suggestions on the football circuit that the club could cash in on either senior stars or potentially homegrown talent, which would offer pure profit for youth products.
Howe, speaking at his press conference ahead of the trip to Brentford, told Chronicle Live: “What I will say on that is trading is essential. Both in and out – to the model of PSR. The days of where teams don’t sell players are, unless your revenue streams are so big, are gone. So I think our revenue streams aren’t where we want them to be.
“We are trying to grow them so I think trading in and out is going to be essential. Hopefully, it is not going to be players that we are forced to sell like we were in that sitiation (June with Anderson and Minteh) with a couple of days with deadlines approaching. Hopefully it is a more stable setting but you can’t guarantee anything.”
When asked if plans are in place yet for January planning, Howe said: “I know the picture. But the issue with PSR and the issue with our position is nothing is clear-cut.
“We will try to do our best. Nothing is absolutely fixed and there will be lots of twists and turns. The wants internally is to improve our squad, if we can do we will, if we can’t we won’t.”
The Magpies go into the clash with Brentford on something of a high after a late equaliser against Liverpool with the challenge to prove Newcastle can raise their game in a clash with one of the lesser sides. Howe said: “One of the challenges that we face I think going into this game, I think the players would have felt the high intensity of the game.
“I think there’s always that. Certainly as a player, I felt that after any game there’s always a come down. But I think it will be a steep one after the Liverpool game. And I think our challenge this weekend is to find a way to hit the same levels of intensity and mental qualities that we showed on Wednesday.”
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-issue-scary-january-30526429
