Newcastle manager Eddie Howe admitted his summer had not gone to plan after experiencing some frustration in the transfer market following the shock departure of sporting director Paul Mitchell.
News of Mitchell’s departure came in late May while Howe was on holiday and immediately gave him added responsibilities.
Since then the Carabao Cup winners have only added winger Anthony Elanga to their first-team squad – Spain Under-19 international Antonio Cordero is expected to go out on loan after arriving from Malaga.
Howe is looking to strengthen after seeing Callum Wilson reject a new contract offer and reluctantly selling Lloyd Kelly to Juventus and Sean Longstaff to Leeds in a bid to manage financial fair play regulations.
The Newcastle manager is also managing transfer speculation around Alexander Isak, who was allowed to go home and shield from the scrutiny following an Austrian training camp, while the rest of the squad were at Celtic Park for a 4-0 pre-season friendly defeat on Saturday.
And being at the sharp end of the recruitment process has underlined the difficulties of attracting top players to St James’ Park.
Newcastle appear to have lost a transfer battle with Liverpool who look set to finalise a deal for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike.
Howe said: “My wish was for us to do our business early and we certainly tried, but it wasn’t to be.
“We’ve had a frustrating time in terms of losing targets to other clubs. I’d be very open with that. That’s happened on several occasions.
“You just have to accept it. In order for a transfer to really work, in my opinion, the player has to be desperate to come to your club. If we don’t get that, the transfer doesn’t work.
“We’re seeking players that are good enough, that are desperate to come, and that can make the difference that they’re in short supply for us.
“We’re confident that we can try and get some more players in to strengthen the depth of the squad. We’re certainly aware that we need to and we’re trying as hard as we can to do that.”
The Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules that influenced the departures of Kelly and Longstaff are also a factor.
“Finances of course play a huge part,” Howe said. “I think anyone who doesn’t think that’s true is deluded.
“I wouldn’t say is the number one for every player. Every situation is different. But we aren’t the biggest payers in the league because we don’t generate the most income.
“So we have to fall in line with PSR and we have to be very smart with what we do. And so we have to control the wages of the players that we have and that all plays a part in who we can attract.”
Howe’s frustration has been compounded by being central to those attempts following the departure of Mitchell, which came out of the blue.
“My phone exploded,” Howe said. “I was enjoying my second day of my holiday and that quickly went sour.
“It was a complete surprise to me. And a big disappointment because we had stability, we were planning the summer ahead and then that’s a big upheaval internally that we’ve been through before with Dan Ashworth leaving.
“It’s been a busier summer in that respect than I wanted. Naturally with Paul leaving, that left a hole in terms of that role. And of course someone in that role protects the manager from a lot of things. And of course his departure left that open for me to do some things that I wouldn’t have normally done.
“The summer certainly wasn’t a relaxing one for me to switch off and see what happens.”
