Eddie Howe has predicted that Newcastle United's summer transfer targets will be 'inspired' by the joyous scenes at St James' Park of late as the Magpies do 'everything' they can to attract more players like Bruno Guimaraes.
Bruno, of course, sparked wild celebrations at St James' last Sunday with a 95th-minute winning goal as Newcastle all but secured their Premier League safety with a 2-1 victory against Leicester City. It was Newcastle's fifth win in a row at home and, given the remarkable atmosphere inside the stadium in recent months, perhaps, it is not a surprise that Howe has picked up 69% of his points at St James' since taking charge.
The chance to play in front of those supporters at St James' was a key factor in Bruno and Kieran Trippier deciding to swap life playing in Europe for an immediate relegation battle. Now that Newcastle are in a more stable position - albeit not mathematically safe just yet - those scenes that were beamed around the world at the weekend could yet help the Magpies in the months to come.
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"It's a great advert for us," Howe told reporters. "Anyone looking at that game and seeing those pictures and seeing the stadium, the feeling, the connection between the players and the supporters and seeing the emotion shown at the end of the game can't help but be inspired by it or motivated to try and experience it.
"We'll use everything we can if we need to try and attract players when that becomes the priority but, at the moment, it isn't. At the moment, it's about trying to recreate that again against Crystal Palace if possible."
Howe could become the first Newcastle manager since Sir Bobby Robson to win six Premier League games on the trot at St James' if the Magpies triumph against Palace on Wednesday. While there has been a quick turnaround between matches, it would be a shock if Bruno did not take centre stage once more following his man of the match displays against Leicester and Wolves.
Bruno received treatment for a back issue at half-time on Sunday, but the midfielder is expected to start again tomorrow night. Given that injury, and a taxing afternoon off the ball in the heat, it said it it all about Bruno's winning mentality that the Brazil international ran 82 yards in the build-up to his winner right at the death.
That desire won't necessarily have come as a huge surprise to Howe and Newcastle's recruitment team, who did their homework on the 24-year-old's character. It may be a little easier for Newcastle to attract players of Bruno's quality in the summer, when clubs are more open to doing business, but Howe is again conscious of signing the right sort of personalities first and foremost.
"I give that the highest rating," he said. "It's so important that you get good people in your dressing room and all the characteristics that go into making a good footballer stroke team player.
"Bruno has all those characteristics: he's a winner; he's not selfish; he's thinking of the team before himself. His weekend and his life is going to be judged whether the team wins and loses - not whether he plays well or not. That's the key thing.
"If we are going to recruit players, we need to bring in players of a similar mindset that are thinking of the team, the club, and then themselves second."
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