Eddie Howe has revealed that he would ideally like to replace Chris Wood with a forward who is 'ready to play' for Newcastle United right away.
Howe did not plan on losing Wood, who has featured in all but two of Newcastle's Premier League games this season, but the Magpies boss was keen to respect the striker's wishes and allow him to join Nottingham Forest. Although Wood will move to Forest on loan initially, Steve Cooper's side are obliged to make the temporary move permanent if certain triggers are met, as expected, in the coming months in what is a 'very good' deal financially for Newcastle.
That leaves Newcastle with the challenge of finding a replacement in the final 11 days of the window who can hit the ground running while also playing a part in the club's future in the years to come.
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"Ideally you want players who can play straight away," Howe told reporters. "In our position, we have lost a player who played a lot of football for us, who was very reliable, who stayed fit and contributed.
"To then bring a player in who we can't use straight away would not make sense. Ideally, yes, we would bring in not necessarily Premier League experience, but someone who is ready to play now would be important."
Howe hopes Newcastle can sign that player before deadline day and the Magpies boss certainly did not want to let Wood go if someone else was not coming in. In fact, on Friday, Howe went as far as to say 'the last thing I wanted to do was leave ourselves light of players'.
Newcastle are now doing their due diligence when it comes to potential replacements. Newcastle's recruitment team have lists compiled for each position for this eventuality, while Howe and his staff also put names forward, and the club are now looking at a very small pool of forwards who could come in.
Howe is not planning on signing a like-for-like target man as a replacement for Wood because the team have evolved since the New Zealand international came in 12 months ago so what is the Newcastle head coach after?
"A very good player that can make the team and squad stronger would be what we are looking for," he said. "Whether they are game-changers or not? It depends on the position that they play in."
Wood could end up proving the first player Newcastle get a decent fee for since Ayoze Perez left the club for Leicester City way back in 2019 after a number of players had their contracts mutually terminated in the years since just to get them off the books. Being able to trade effectively has never been more important for Newcastle at a time when the club's wage to turnover ratio is higher than many of their Premier League rivals.
UEFA's financial sustainability regulations will eventually limit how much can be spent on wages, transfers and agents fees to 70% of overall revenue so Newcastle have to be able to bring in money from outgoings sooner rather than later while also making sure any incomings are here to stay.
"Signing someone for the short-term, between now and the end of the season, does not make sense," Howe added. "It doesn’t make financial sense. It also doesn't make football sense.
"With all of our recruitment, we have to have an eye on the here and now but also what will happen to the club in a year’s time, two years’ time. We will try and make the right signing if we’re able to do one.
"There is no guarantee with the short time we have left and the very small pool of players available that we will be able to make any signing. That is the difficult situation we now face but, certainly, there will be an eye on the future and trying to get the right player in."
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