Newcastle missed out on five midfielders in January transfer window

Carabao Cup final place not enough for Eddie Howe and Newcastle

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Newcastle United extensively monitored five midfielders during the January transfer window including Manchester United star Scott McTominay but missed out due to prohibitive costs, according to reports. Edson Alvarez and Moises Caicedo were also in the frame as well as Leicester duo James Maddison and Youri Tielemans however they proved to be unattainable with Eddie Howe turning his attention to improving his frontline instead.

Newcastle were expected to be more active in the January transfer window as the Magpies sought to strengthen their claim on the Champions League places. However, Anthony Gordon and Harrison Ashby were the only players. The north-east side were somewhat hamstrung by Financial Fairplay regulations limiting the amount they are able to spend despite the mega-rich Saudi Arabian ownership.

It was presumed that Newcastle would look to add in central midfield given their lack of options in the area. The position was Howe’s early priority however his focus shifted after Chris Wood joined Nottingham Forest with attacking options pursued instead. As a result, Gordon joined instead with his £40million fee taking up most of the Magpies budget for the window.

Now, The Athletic have reported that the club ‘extensively watched’ five midfielders during the transfer window. McTominay, Caicedo, Alvarez, Tielemans and Maddison were all options but the costs involved proved to be prohibitive.

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Newcastle’s struggle to sign a midfielder could hamper the side in the coming weeks. Bruno Guimaraes will miss the next three matches with the red card he picked up against Southampton in midweek. The departure of Jonjo Shelvey has worsened the situation with Sean Longstaff, Joelinton and Joe Willock the only senior options left.

Speaking ahead of Newcastle’s encounter with West Ham on Saturday, Howe suggested youngster Elliot Anderson could come in for Guimaraes but conceded the Brazilian would be a ‘huge miss’.

“We’re going to miss him massively. He’s a huge player who has done ever so well for us. Whenever you lose a player, you have to readjust. It’ll be the opportunity for the team to regroup and find another way.

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“The timing of it is difficult. We had a really intense period of games and now we don’t. The good thing is he will be available for the final but we have three huge Premier League games to come.

“We have Elliot Anderson, who we really like. We’d love to see how he develops his Premier League career. We have other players we feel can play in midfield as well. We will obviously miss Bruno’s presence and quality but we’ll adapt.”

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