Eddie Howe has provided his opinion on Newcastle United, one of eight Eddie Howe Premier League teams that voted against a temporary ban on loans between teams owned by the same person.
Eddie Howe has conceded that he thought it “a little odd” that Newcastle United has received all of the attention in the run-up to the Premier League vote on party-related loans.
Tuesday’s meeting of top-flight stakeholders in London saw eight teams oppose the temporary introduction of a ban on loan movements between clubs owned by the same person, including Newcastle. Consequently, the motion failed to pass since it did not have the necessary backing from two-thirds of the clubs.
As proponents of multi-club ownership, Man City and Chelsea were among the teams that ultimately prevailed, but the vote was widely perceived as being especially important to injury-ravaged Newcastle before the January transfer window opened. Newcastle’s association with Ruben Neves, whose team, Al-Hilal, is also primarily controlled by the PIF, comes after this. Was Howe aggravated by that?
“I have no irritations,” the Newcastle manager grinned. “I thought it was a little odd that everyone was just focusing on us. It’s not just about us; every club has the right to vote the way they want to, and that right hasn’t been violated.”
Before, Howe acknowledged that Neves was a “player that we liked when he was at Wolves.” The 45-year-old said he was “open to signing players from anywhere if they’re good enough and they make our team better” in response to a question about whether he had thought about bringing in talent from the Saudi Pro League.
But considering Howe’s history of being silent about legitimate targets, it may have been a touch telling that the Newcastle head coach addressed the issue so candidly earlier this month. When asked whether he thought Neves could fit into his high-intensity side, Howe even went so far as to add that ‘players can adapt to different styles’.
For their part, rival CEOs have often emphasized that the ban was not directed directly at Newcastle, despite the timing of his most recent vote appearing to support new regulations on party-related transactions that were implemented soon after the club was taken over.
Howe responded, “I understand the focus being solely on us, but it’s not solely on us,” following votes against the suspension from Man City, Chelsea, Everton, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, and Burnley.
This vote represents all Premier League teams. Like any other Premier League club, we might be able to hire players from a league. In my opinion, there is no benefit. We are no different from any other Premier League team.”
As injuries had decimated the team as they eventually have, Newcastle had not initially intended to make any mid-season window acquisitions at the beginning of the campaign, despite the arrivals of Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento, and Lewis Hall last summer. However, considering the amount of players who could return by the New Year, choices regarding January will be made closer to the window opening than at this time.
Naturally, Tonali’s extended sentence for betting violations means he won’t be available until August, so if the appropriate midfield player is available, there will definitely be a need. The recruitment team at Newcastle is working behind the scenes, but Howe cautioned that making any firm plans just yet would be a “error”
To be honest, I have no idea what will happen,” he remarked. As I sit here, I find it difficult to make any kind of choice since come January 1, the team may look completely different.
Leave a Reply