Despite significant improvement in the club's finances, Newcastle United manager, Eddie Howe has stated that the club would not be capable of signing top players come the summer.
This comes as a surprise because the club, which 80% is owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia – have spent more than £250 million ($315 million) to acquire new players over the past three seasons.
The team, led by manager Eddie Howe, currently sits at third place in the Premier League and is expected to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Since Howe’s arrival, Newcastle have undergone a significant transformation making it an attractive destination for top players. Recently rumours have linked the likes of Paris Saint Germain forward Neymar and Al Nassr striker Ronaldo to potential moves to St James’ Park.
When questioned about the possibility of bringing some of the top players in the world to Newcastle on Friday, Howe told reporters:
“It is best to discover them before they explode onto the world scene”
“We could not be able to come close to affording those players as they are the best players in the world”.
“We are never going to be in a position currently to afford those transfer fees and wages, so we need to go underneath and find them young and develop them into the players they can be.”
“That kind of speculation has been there from day one since the takeover, really. Naturally everyone has then assumed the biggest names in world football will be going to Newcastle,” he said.
“Now we’ve not recruited that way. Financially, we can’t recruit that way at the moment, but also we have to bring the right people and the right players into the group”.
“I will say the transfer market is such a complex decision, you can’t just pick a name and bring them in. There’s got to be a lot of thought going into what we’re doing both financially and looking at the players.”
Newcastle will host second-place Arsenal on Saturday as they look to cement their place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
