Newcastle United ended the January window with three new faces in Anthony Gordon, Garang Kuol and Harrison Ashby.
Eddie Howe had been keen to add more depth to his squad after finishing the window looking a little bit light in midfield. But United felt they could not stand in the way of Jonjo Shelvey after he was made a lucrative contract offer by Nottingham Forest.
The Magpies sanctioned his exit knowing they had limited time to bring in a replacement and despite being unable to get a new signing through the door, the last three days of the window were spent looking for a holding midfielder to come in on cover.
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Two loan enquiries were made for Conor Gallagher of Chelsea and Sander Berge of Sheffield United but the Blues did not want to deal with Newcastle. And the Blades wanted a cash deal now for Berge only to be told it would be a loan with a view to a permanent before United left the room on talks.
The Gallagher deal could be revisited in the summer if Chelsea are prepared to listen to cash offers but Newcastle are also assessing options elsewhere too. Like several deals they have aborted since the takeover, they are keen to ensure a list of more than one option is put in front of Howe in each window.
And Newcastle already have an eye on three or four exciting targets ahead of the next window with scouts already on talent spotting missions across Europe and in South America.
The late business that resulted in huge week for Jay Turner-Cooke
After Elliot Anderson, Jay Turner-Cooke is regarded as the next big thing for Newcastle reserves. The former Sunderland youth player has already made his first-team debut in friendly matches.
But he landed a loan move to Tranmere Rovers on deadline day and has now signed a new two-year extension to his existing deal. His old deal was due to expire in 2024.
However, Turner-Cooke will have to wait for his Tranmere debut with Rovers boss Micky Mellon confirming: "Jay has a ‘return to play’ phase, where he’s just been injured, so they have certain criteria to make sure that he is fit and not to return to the treatment room. It’s nothing major and he will be with us from Thursday."
Javier Manquillo heads home for treatment
The arrival of Harrison Ashby from West Ham could not be better timed. The right-back will come in and provide immediate cover for Kieran Trippier. The need to sign the £3million youngster was made more urgent by an injury to former Liverpool man Manquillo.
Eddie Howe said: “He’s just got a ball on the end of his foot, which has twisted his keen slightly. It’s a strange mechanism.
"He’s been away in Spain and had a couple of injections. I think he’s back here tomorrow and we hope from there we can build him up quite quickly."
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