Eddie Howe has a number of positions in the Newcastle squad that need strengthening this summer, but Frank McAvennie warned that the Magpies may not be able to sign their top transfer target just yet.
He says that although Newcastle have enough money to compete with any club financially, some players may not want to join until the project has garnered success.
McAvennie told Football Insider: “Some top players are lazy and won’t want to join now. They will want to join at the end and take all the glory. (Newcastle) will sign good players, but in two years (is) when (they’ll) get the superstars.”
Although Newcastle signed Kieran Tripper from Atletico Madrid and Bruno Guimaraes from Olympique Lyonnais in January, Howe has stated that Newcastle’s transfer business will be more realistic than fantastical this summer.
The Magpies did sign 30-year-old Dan Burn and 30-year-old Chris Wood in the winter transfer window, but they want value in the market now and recognise the need to lower the average age.
Newcastle don’t want to overspend in one transfer window and bloat the squad beyond its limit either. Instead, Howe will upgrade each position gradually, so the Toon Army have natural growth and aren’t spending outside of their means.
Financial Fair Play is still a looming threat and there are a lot of existing players in the Newcastle squad that need offloading before new signings can take their place.
In other news, Alan Hutton says Newcastle United could be exploited in their pursuit of Nathan Ake
