Newcastle boss Eddie Howe responds to Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar links

Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle United need to find future superstars before they hit the headlines after rejecting links with Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.

The top-flight Magpies have been at the center of speculation of a big-money move since Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium completed their takeover of St James Park in October 2021.

Newcastle, 80 percent owned by Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund, have invested more than 250 million in new players in the last three transfer windows, but have recently been touted to sign both Portuguese giant Ronaldo and Brazilian counterpart Neymar. days.

When asked about the possibility that some of the world’s best players could one day ply their trade on Tyneside, manager Howe, who has consistently cited financial fair play as a limiting factor in clubs’ recruitment plans, replied: It’s best to find them before they do. explode onto the world stage.

We couldn’t come close to affording those players because they are the best players in the world.

We can’t afford those transfer fees and wages at the moment, so we have to find them young and develop them into the players they can be.

Magpie business has been shrewd so far, with Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier arriving for relatively modest fees before bigger investments in Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.

But having guided the club to third in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s showdown with title-chasing Arsenal, Howe knows it is inevitable they will be linked with bigger names.

Asked about Ronaldo and Neymar, he said: There has been this kind of speculation since the first day after the takeover. Naturally, everyone then assumed that the biggest names in world football would go to Newcastle.

Now, we haven’t recruited like that. Financially, we can’t recruit like this at the moment, but we also need to bring the right people and the right players into the group.

What I’m saying is that the transfer market is such a complex decision that you can’t just pick a name and bring them in. You have to think a lot about what you did both financially and looking at the players.

Those two players are incredible players. We are associated with different names.

I know the direction I want to take the team and what we can and cannot do in the transfer market.

Howes was commenting on reports that Lionel Messi could command a 320m-a-year package, 15m more than Staveley and co paid for Newcastle, if he decides to move to Saudi Arabias Pro League this summer.