Eddie Howe has revealed that the club are “exploring every market” when asked about reported interest in out-of-contract duo Tosin Adarabioyo and Lloyd Kelly.
In a recent press conference, the boss also played down the transfer myth that Newcastle struggle to attract top players to Tyneside, insisting he’s “never experienced” a player turning down a move to the North-East based on the area during his time at the club.
“I’ve not experienced that myself (at Newcastle). I think we’ve fought pretty well for players. When you are trying to sign top players, you’re always fighting with other clubs. That’s natural. Some deals we’ve won, some deals we’ve lost. But I’ve never experienced, since I’ve been here, a player not wanting to come because of the area or where the club is situated.
Howe added: “I think it’s about trying to sell players the complete package. The football, for me, has to be the most important thing. If the player is thinking of other things, maybe they aren’t the right fit for us. It’s about what we can offer them on the football pitch and how they can develop their careers. So there’s a host of reasons that go into it.”
Asked about reported interest in Adarabioyo and Kelly and the free agent market, Howe said: “We are exploring every market. Anything that we feel benefits us. We aren’t necessarily looking at the free transfer market in isolation, we’re looking at every option, every theme. So I wouldn’t say it’s exclusive.
“Of course, we are trying to do good business – we aren’t trying to excessively spend money; that’ll be the same as long as I am here. We’re looking for players who we feel are worth the money clubs potentially put on their head. So it’s not exclusive to any theme (like free transfers) – we’re always looking for good deals.”
I love the way Eddie says “I’ve not experienced that myself ” when talking about players not wanting to come to Newcastle because of location. This comes hot on the heels of our German ‘keeper’s missus publicly stating that Karius will be leaving us because Newcastle is “inconvenient because of it’s location”!
I’ve never seen an alien, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
And if I had seen one I wouldn’t tell the press about it.
BykerBill(Quote)
Bit of an odd example in Karius. He doesn’t want to leave because he doesn’t like the area, he’s leaving because his fiancee and baby live in Italy, so he wants to be close to them.
Olly Hawkins(Quote)