Newcastle: Howe excited by ‘season-defining’ January and outlines expectations for transfer window

Eddie Howe believes January will be “season-defining” for Newcastle but is not expecting his squad to be bolstered by a significant arrival.

Newcastle go into 2026 in 13th place in the Premier League, not a position a demanding fanbase would have expected given the money provided to Howe by the club’s Saudi Arabian owners over the past couple of years.

They play nine games in January, including the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Manchester City and Champions League clashes with PSV Eindhoven and Paris Saint-Germain.

Howe said: ”January will be a season-defining month for us and you look at the month as a whole – I think there are some great games for us, some mouthwatering occasions but we’ve got some tough challenges ahead and certainly the start to the month needs to be a fruitful one for us.”

Their opening challenge is a home game with a Crystal Palace team that have hit the buffers in recent weeks as they try to balance their domestic and European commitments.

“Any home game for us is a positive,” added Howe. “We love playing at home. It goes without saying we’ve been really good at home for a long time so we prefer to play there other than anywhere else. I think the travelling, especially during a hectic schedule, the more you can minimise that, then that’s beneficial for us.”

Howe admits major incoming is unlikely

Newcastle spent nearly £250million over the summer on the likes of Anthony Elanga, Jacob Ramsey, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa and even though that was partly offset by the sale of Alexander Isak, it does not appear they have significantly improved as a squad.

Asked if they are looking to make another major signing in the January window, Howe said: “Marquee signing, I suppose you are talking big financial outlay, I don’t think that is the desire in this month for various reasons because I don’t think it’s a great month necessarily to make that kind of signing.

“Any signing we make in this window will restrict our ability to do business in the summer so I think we’ve got to be really careful that we make the right decisions for the here and now and for the future.

“We’re still in that position where PSR will influence every decision that we make so that’s why we have to be really smart.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily the wish in this month but I think our injury situation, to a degree, will impact what we do and don’t do.”

Full-backs close to a return

Howe says right-backs Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento are close to returning with Lewis Miley continuing to impress while deputising as a makeshift defender.

He said: ”We’ve got a couple of training days but Tino and Kieran have worked really well. They’ve had proper recovery periods so they are both close.

“Lewis Miley I have said time and again how well he has done in a position he hasn’t played before, again against Burnley I thought he was magnificent for us but we’d love to get our full-backs back fit and available and boost the squad in terms of numbers.

“We’ve been very thin on the ground for defenders so that will be a big area.”