EDDIE HOWE has explained why he did not want to spend big money on a new striker this summer, but the Newcastle United boss insists there is scope to make significant investments into other areas of the pitch.

However, while further incomings are anticipated before the end of the month, there will also have to be outgoings to ensure the Magpies remain compliant with the Premier League’s financial rules.

Newcastle completed the signing of William Osula from Sheffield United this morning, with the 20-year-old joining for an initial fee of £10m which could rise to £15m if a series of add-on clauses are triggered.

Having been linked with some of Europe’s leading forwards in the last few seasons, the Magpies have instead opted to sign a relatively unproven youngster who is still to score his first Premier League goal.

Howe accepts he has recruited a player who is far from the finished article, but with Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson already available to play in a system that only has room for one recognised centre-forward, the Magpies boss insists it would have made no sense to invest heavily in another forward.

“With Alex and Callum hopefully both being fit for the majority of the season and carrying that attacking load together, then when you have a sum of money to spend, you’re logically not going to spend a huge sum of money in that position when you have other positions that maybe require a bit more investment,” said Howe. “It’s a very difficult balance.”

However, that balance does not rule out the possibility of spending big in other areas of the field this summer.

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Newcastle remain in talks with Crystal Palace over March Guehi, with the England international likely to cost around £65m as the Eagles attempt to drive a hard bargain for one of their biggest assets.

Can Newcastle spend that kind of money while remaining within the constraints of PSR and also intending to sign a right-sided attacker this summer? It will not be easy, and Howe did not want to make any specific comments about Guehi when he spoke to the press this morning.

However, he admits the purchase of a new centre-half is a priority and thinks a deal that suits Newcastle should be possible, with the caveat that it will almost certainly require significant outgoings to balance the books.

“We’re slightly light on numbers (at centre-half),” said Howe. “Emil (Krafth) has done a really good job during pre-season, playing inside from his normal full-back position, and he has the capability of doing that.

“We have very good players in there, but, naturally, when you lose players like Sven (Botman) and Jamaal (Lascelles) for the length of the time we have, that was a big dent in the middle of our defence. It’s two huge losses. I think the lads that came in at the back end of last season did very well, but it’s certainly an area we’re looking at.

“I don’t think PSR is going to change drastically for us, short term, but there’s going to be a period where, yes of course we can recruit, although there’s got to be a balance to that.

“We’re going to have to bring in income as well. We’re managing that very delicately. We’ll try to get it right, but through the period of time that I’m going to be here, I’m sure there’s going to have to be outgoings as well to balance it up the other way.”

There is a strong determination that those outgoings will not involve Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon or Isak, a trio that are regarded as the ‘crown jewels’ within the current Newcastle squad.

Kieran Trippier does not fall into that category though, and while Howe insists the 33-year-old full-back remains as committed as ever, he stopped a long way short of ruling out the sale of a player who has entered the final year of his current contract on Tyneside.

“I see him (Trippier) as a huge part of the team and the squad going forward,” said Howe. “But as I said earlier, there’ll always be – while we’re in the moment of Financial Fair Play still affecting the club – there’ll always be the possibility that anyone could leave. So, I won’t talk about individually players but naturally, with incomings there will be outgoings as well.

“I don’t mean literally everyone has a ‘For Sale’ sign on their head, but we are still in a position where Financial Fair Play will affect our decision making. We want to keep our best players, and we will fight tooth and nail to do that, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be outgoings of certain player, because there has to be from our side.

“I don’t think Kieran is openly looking to leave. He has been very good in training this week and come back with an ambition to fight for his place, like every player does when he comes back for pre-season, fully committed.”