Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson and former Newcastle United striker Louis Saha have disagreed on whether Eddie Howe should set his sights on securing Champions League football or the Carabao Cup.
It's no secret that Newcastle are having their best season in years, with Howe's side sat in third in the Premier League following their 1-0 win over Fulham.
But with their last major domestic trophy win coming all the way back in 1955, and them entering the Carabao Cup semi-final as heavy favourites against top-flight strugglers Southampton, there's arguments to be made for both sides.
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In a perfect world, fans would absolutely love to choose both - why not? But when faced with the 'one-or-the-other' decision, both pundits were on opposite sides.
Merson was convinced that Howe should focus on the Carabao Cup, mainly due to the fact that the Magpies already have a big chance of making the top four anyway.
"Cup, for me the cup," he said when covering the match on Sky Sports. "Unless you take your advantage, you know Liverpool and Chelsea this season are not about, and if you think Newcastle, this is a big chance of getting in the top four, so cup."
However, Saha immediately interjected saying: "I would go Champions League straight away. Straight away, no hesitation. The club is willing to go further, faster in certain ways. They’ve done it with very smart decisions with transfers, they didn’t do silly stuff.
"Now the prospect of having Champions League, attracting a lot of players that the Newcastle owners will like, it would make sense."
Having already bought in great additions like Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak over the past year, Howe has already proven to be wise with his big bank balance gifted to him by Newcastle's owners PIF.
And when asked how likely it was that his former side could make it back to the European stage once again, Saha highlighted their fantastic transfer market moves as the key reason why they're in the race for a top four position.
"At the start of the season we said they really have to be smart in the transfer market, they’ve done it, didn’t really do any silly things and Eddie Howe has built his team around that prospect to get confidence and now they are in the conversation about this top four, this Champions League."
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