Eddie Howe makes January transfer stance clear as Newcastle's injury crisis worsens

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Eddie Howe has conceded that he may be forced to delve into the January transfer market to tackle Newcastle's severe injury crisis.

The Magpies head into this weekend's clash against Chelsea likely to play Lewis Miley at right-back and potentially field reserve team star Alex Murphy at left-back. Defenders Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier , Emil Krafth, Jameal Lascelles, and Tino Livramento are all sidelined until early 2026 while Lewis Hall is a doubtful starter.

Howe has contemplated recalling Matt Targett from his loan spell at Middlesbrough but that doesn't seem to be a viable option after the player bid farewell to his teammates in the summer, with his contract at Newcastle expiring this season.

However, with club backers PIF injecting £45million ahead of the January window, there is optimism that new signings could kickstart Newcastle's season. But they begin the festive period languishing in 12th place and Howe has told his squad that they must improve.

When quizzed about transfers, Howe told Chronicle Live : "We are always looking to be opportunistic. If there is something there that everybody feels will benefit the club for the short and long-term, I think that is something we will look to do.

"Depending on what happens in the next few days and weeks. That obviously may change, there might have to be a need and a necessity to be active. I think we have to make that decision when it comes around. I don't think we can make that decision now.

"We don't want to recruit anybody to fix a short term need to create a long term problem. I think we will make decisions on what that injury situation looks like in the first week of January."

Newcastle progressed to the Carabao Cup semi-finals this week following their 2-1 victory over Fulham at St James' Park. Whilst they're well-positioned in the Champions League play-offs, their pursuit of European qualification in the Premier League has raised questions about whether cup success might be masking underlying issues.

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Howe responded: "We want to do well in every competition. I don't think we can be criticised for doing well in the cups. We are not look to paper over any cracks, we know the Premier League is where we will be judged the most. Our Premier League form has to improve."

With injuries piling up and a gruelling winter period looming on Tyneside, Howe might even need to consider deploying Joelinton as an emergency centre-back should the injury crisis worsen.

Discussing the challenge of adapting players to unfamiliar roles, Howe explained: "I've had lots of challenging periods in loads of different ways, I don't think you can compare one to the other. I think as long as you can put a team out on the pitch and it is competitive, then I'm good with that.

"Sometimes you will play players out of position. You see a lot of teams up and down the country do it. As long as we are putting good players on the pitch that's all that matters and I back them to perform."

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