After a quiet January transfer window that ended with no signings, attention will now turn to what promises to be a massive summer for the club.

Paul Mitchell will be under pressure to deliver after a tricky two windows since his arrival as our sporting director, with the arrival of a new right-winger and right-sided centre-back set to be top priorities.

Mark Douglas reports that work is already underway, with the club hoping to have big money to spend after pulling in £30m for Miguel Almiron and Lloyd Kelly last month.

Journalist names three ones to watch this summer

In a recent piece for the i, Mark Douglas reveals that Newcastle have been discussing moves for three targets, but couldn’t step up their interest in January due to PSR and selling clubs insisting they were not for sale.

The three players named are PSV’s Johan Bakayoko, Southampton sensation Tyler Dibling and Bournemouth centre-back Illia Zabarnyi.

It sems January moves were seen as a a non-starter, based on our PSR position and a reluctance to sell from their own clubs, but they could be ones to watch heading into the summer.

Dibling looks set to move on if and (more likely) when Southampton are relegated, while Bakayoko has been tipped to land a Premier League move for a few years now after impressing for the Dutch giants, where he recently scored in the Champions League against Liverpool.

Zabarnyi is enjoying another rock solid season at Bournemouth, although he’ll be hard to prise away from the south coast; especially if Andoni Iraola’s Cherries secure European football.

January risk could backfire

Moving on Almiron and Kelly for a combined £30m could look like a Paul Mitchell masterstroke if we can still qualify for the Champions League.

However, with Sven Botman (knee), Anthony Gordon (quad) and Dan Burn (groin) all injury doubts ahead of our trip to Man City next weekend and Harvey Barnes also out, our small squad is looking thinner and thinner.

The lack of depth and failure to inject fresh blood into Howe’s first team is something we must address in the summer; I just hope we reach the end of the season without regrets.