Speaking to the press this morning, Eddie Howe has issued an update on the transfer front, revealing that he’d “love one more player” to arrive before next month’s deadline.
Howe insists “you never quite know” how many players you’ll need due to injuries and suspensions that could crop up, but it seems the Toon boss is keen to bring in at least one more.
He didn’t name positions, but it’s thought a centre-back remains the club’s top priority, with moves for another left-back also being explored. However, Howe insists the club must be “creative” in the market, admitting the club must find a “different way” to recruit rather than “paying the money in the here and now.”
Howe added that “nothing is close” as of now, with more internal discussions set to take place, but hinted that staggered payment deals or potential loan-to-buy moves could be pursued, allowing us to sign now and pay later to work within FFP restrictions that continue to limit our spending.
Here’s what he had to say in full when quizzed by the local press this morning:
“You never quite know (how many we’ll bring in). It depends on injuries and suspensions and all those other things, so I could be sat here saying ‘yes, we have a perfect squad’ and then you get five or six injuries and it’s ‘Jesus, it doesn’t look the same’.
“I would love one more player. That’s what I would love, personally, then we would have the ideal depth at this moment with the injuries we currently have, but let’s wait and see.
“That’s a good question (if there’s funds available). Not 100 per cent, because it depends on the deal and I think we may have to be creative with this last player. It’s difficult to make that a definite because it depends on injuries between now and the window shutting.
“It (being creative) means that we can’t just go out and slap money on the table and buy a player. We just don’t have the resources to do that at the moment with FFP restrictions. So it’s about finding a different way rather than paying money in the here and now.
“There’s nothing close on that. That’s something we’ll need to discuss internally. We’re not close to doing a deal at the moment.”
When asked if such a deal could be a loan-to-buy or one with staggered payments, he added “those are very difficult deals to do“.
