During today’s press conference from the club’s training base, a journalist asked Eddie Howe about recent links to Man City midfielder Kalvin Phillips and Arsenal stopper Aaron Ramsdale.
Both have been mentioned as reported loan targets after falling down the pecking order at their current clubs. Phillips is seen as a short-term replacement for the suspended Sandro Tonali, while Ramsdale may be an option now Nick Pope is likely to be out until April or May.
Howe refused to comment specifically on either link – although it’s interesting that he didn’t deny our ‘interest’ in the pair – and instead touched on our preparations for the January window, revealing that we are ‘assessing our squad on a daily basis’ to see what gaps will need to be filled this winter following our ongoing injury crisis.
Read what he had to say below, believing we’re unlikely to get any ‘early news’ on transfers given the ever-changing injury situation that will likely dictate the moves we make:
“I would never talk about any individual player. We are assessing our squad probably on a daily basis at the moment to see where we stand injury wise and to see where the gaps are in our squad and see what January can bring us.
“But I probably wouldn’t expect any developments, any early news on that. It’s a long month so we will wait and see.
“We’ve got a lot to consider. The preference is to get our injured players back, but if we see a weakness in the squad in terms of numbers, we’d have to act.
“I would never comment on any positions we are potentially or potentially not looking at. I’d say all options are available to us.”
Eddie Howe stated he would not talk about specific positions on January talks when Aaron Ramsdale question was put to him. Unlike Kalvin Phillips question earlier this month he also did not play it down either #nufc
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) December 22, 2023
