Dan Ashworth says Newcastle United will not get ahead of themselves in January to secure a Champions League place. However, the sporting director has not ruled out additions to the squad if they represent a good deal for the football club.
The Magpies have made a blistering start to the campaign and are in contention for European football, sitting third in the Premier League. Many outsiders had tipped the Toon to spend big again in January, but that won't be the case.
When asked about investing big in January because of the club's current position, Ashworth told Sky Sports: "It's a really good question and one we've talked about, there are a couple of factors in there. We've got a 25-man squad now, so we'd need to trade and the second thing is, every club is bound by Financial Fair Play.
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"Each financial year you have budgets which you can use so that we need to make sure we're in that budget. we can't just go and spend because we fancy it. It has to be part of the plan.
"That does lead into those sort of conversations. We're in a wonderful position in the league and we want to be able to sustain that. We've got a really good squad."
When pressed on whether winning a trophy, or the current position in the Premier League has much of an impact on the players available to Newcastle United Ashworth added: "I would say both. Because both of them attract a really high calibre of player. The Stadium sells itself, it's an incredible project, incredible city and football club.
"But, if you're then starting to knock on the door of major trophies and competing for European places in the Premier League, that helps you attract a top level player."
Newcastle have been linked with the likes of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Moussa Diaby to strengthen the squad in January. However, Ashworth pointed to the summer transfer plan as one that might open more doors for the club.
He said: "Eddie, first and foremost, is brilliant to work with and an experienced manager who understands Financial Fair Play and how to build a squad in a sensible way. We'll try and work a couple of windows in advance.
"We know what we'd like to do in the summer of 23 for example, then if the right player and the right opportunity comes along and we can do it, then we'll look at it. But, January is always a difficult window, Eddie knows that and I know that.
"It's not always easy to be able to get the right player in a short period of time. You get two opportunities a season to change your squad, in and out, this is one of them. It's a shorter one than the summer window, it would be remiss of us not to look at something and try to do something.
"As I've said previously, we're clear with what we want to do in the summer. If the right player comes along and the right opportunity, of course we'll look at it. The second part of the club strategy is looking at more emerging talent and younger players that sit outside of the 25-man squad.
"Again, if the right player comes along, we've just signed Garang Kuol for example, an 18-year-old. We're always looking for those sort of players as well to add to our depth of talent that we have at the club."
The Toon hierarchy have also stressed the importance of not paying over the odds for players in a 'Newcastle tax' following on from the recent takeover.
"I think the important thing is you've got more than one option," Ashworth said when asked about paying inflated prices. "You've got the ability to walk away from a deal if it gets too pricey. We have a valuation in the market of what that player is worth to us and if that deal goes too high or is unattainable, we move on to the next player or we don't fill that hole.
"That's where Steve Nickson and the recruitment department come in and it's about making sure we've got a list of targets that we feel can take us to the level we want to get to.
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