EDDIE HOWE will be prioritising ‘quality over quantity’ when he sits down with the rest of Newcastle United’s recruitment team to discuss the club’s summer transfer business in the next couple of weeks.

Having confirmed their place in next season’s Champions League when they drew with Leicester City on Monday evening, the Magpies round off the campaign with what is now effectively a dead rubber at Chelsea on Sunday.

After that, attention will switch to the summer transfer window, with Newcastle needing to reinforce their current squad to enable to them to compete on multiple fronts when the new season begins in August.

While the Magpies were saddled with the tag of being the ‘richest club in the world’ when their Saudi Arabia-backed ownership group bought out Mike Ashley a year-and-a-half ago, the Financial Fair Play regulations overseen by both the Premier League and UEFA will continue to severely limit their spending power until their commercial revenue levels begin to significantly increase.

As a result, while Howe is confident there will be transfer activity on Tyneside this summer, it will be a case of trying to cherry-pick a handful of talented players who can make an immediate impact on the first-team squad rather than throwing vast sums at an array of potential targets.

“It won’t be huge numbers, I don’t think it can be,” said the Newcastle boss, whose side will finish in either third or fourth position this season depending on their result at Chelsea and Manchester United’s performances in their remaining two games. “We don’t have the ability to spend the money that people will think we have. We’re going to have to be very smart. It will be a small group of players (coming in) but hopefully ones that can make a difference.”

READ MORE:

“It’s (the summer window) going to be important for us, and we have to try to get it right. That’s what’s going to underpin our success. I think we’ve been really good in the three transfer windows so far, since I’ve been here. But the challenge gets harder and more difficult because now we’ve become a better team, there’s less players that will make us better. It’s going to be a big window for us.”

Howe is especially keen not to disrupt the unity and team spirit he has successfully engendered since taking over in the first half of last season.

As well as signing players who have improved Newcastle’s performances on the pitch in the last three transfer windows, the Magpies head coach has also helped recruit a batch of signings who have bought into the culture and ethos that has developed under the current regime.

“Anyone who has come into the group has moulded and adapted to the culture we have in place,” said Howe. “That’s been great to see. The biggest challenge for us is to maintain that and improve it, while adding to the squad. It won’t be huge numbers, it will be about trying to select the right players who can make us better.”