When Eddie Howe spoke to the media after Newcastle’s draw with league leaders, Arsenal, he was inevitably asked about transfer additions this month now that the window is open.
“At the moment we are taking it day-by-day.” Howe said, “We have a strong group of players but we will assess what we need in January. There are no intentions imminently to improve the squad but that may change. There’s no race from our perspective, it’s just about continuing to improve and that’s our main goal.”
One thing we do know about Eddie Howe is how adept he is at managing expectations, so while the pessimistic side of the Toon Army will take this is Howe saying we’re not making any signings, the reality is that, as always, Newcastle will not be rushed or bullied into making moves that don’t suit the club. Every aspect of every transfer will be meticulously researched to ensure that any additions will slot into the team with minimal disruption.
Howe says that there are no intentions imminently to improve the squad, but for me, the game against Arsenal highlighted one area that we may need to improve upon quickly.
We lack a pacey left-back. Dan Burn has been doing a fantastic job in that role despite primarily being a centre-back, but Bukayo Saka just had too much for him last night and Joe Willock and Joelinton had to drop in to help out Burn on several occasions.
If we had a fullback with the pace to match the likes of Saka we’d be a lot more comfortable, especially as Matt Targett clearly signed the wrong piece of paper when he joined Newcastle on a permanent deal and signed away his fitness to the Devil.