Eddie Howe admits he is braced to be hit with "a premium" when it comes to the January sales as Newcastle United look to build for the second half of the season.
United spent almost £100million on Sven Botman and Alexander Isak alone in the summer window but says those are the type of players who can challenge for a place in his top three side. It's unknown exactly how much Newcastle have to spend in this window and Howe has already warned there could hurdles as far as FFP is concerned.
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Howe said: "In my position, you are keen to sign the best players you can - but those players come at a premium, as you know. "Botman wasn’t cheap, Alex wasn’t cheap. "Those are players who can influence the starting XI.
"Do we have the finances for that? I do not know. That might impact our options on that one."
Botman - at £35million - has actually looked like a snip but and Howe was asked whether that price tag now looks cheap. He replied: "Cheap compared to some other business that was done. It is a considerable outlay the club have to find and with FFP, I’m not sure that’s available to us."
But Howe is still eager to keep on improving the side he has transformed from annual relegation battlers to European contenders in just a year. He said: "As a manager I am always looking to improve the team. "I will never sit here and be content - I don’t think that is the right way to manage."
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