Eddie Howe defends Newcastle transfer record but insists there is no 'civil war' at club

Eddie Howe has insisted there is no “civil war” at Newcastle United despite the club's transfer policy in recent seasons being publicly criticised by new sporting director Paul Mitchell last week.

But the Magpies manager also strongly defended his recruitment record maintaining that he is “very proud” of the players that have been brought in since he took over as manager.

Mitchell replaced Manchester United-bound Dan Ashworth in the summer and his first transfer window in the role has seen Newcastle forced to sell two its young players – Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh – to avoid falling foul of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

There has also been no major strengthening of the squad with attempts to bring in Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi and Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga both ending in failure.

In a media briefing last week, Mitchell described Newcastle's scouting network as not being “fit for purpose” and that there “hasn't been a clear strategy over the last five years” at the club.

The criticism has sparked rumours of a civil war at the Premier League club and in his press conference ahead of Sunday's game with Wolves at Molineux, Howe was asked if he had spoken to Mitchell since the interview.

“I've had no contact from Paul but I don't think that's unusual. We’ve got different jobs to do. I’m focusing on the football and the team, and he’s obviously focusing on his role.

“The civil war stuff, absolutely not, in my experience. But I am cocooned in my work and absolutely focused on the players and the training, and I know you might be bored of that answer but it is what I do every single day that I am here.”

Since taking over at St James' Park, Howe has been heavily involved in the club's recruitment process which saw likes of Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Bruno Guimaraes arrive in the first transfer window after the Saudi Arabia-backed consortium bought out previous owner Mike Ashley in October 2021.

The signings helped drag Newcastle away from the threat of relegation and over the next two seasons the team was further strengthened by the arrivals of Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon as Howe guided the team to fourth and seventh place finishes.

And the former Bournemouth coach made clear on Friday that everyone involved in making those signings “can hold their heads up very high” about what was achieved.

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“I'm very, very proud of every single player that we signed in that period,” said Howe, whose nephew Andy Howe is part of the Magpies' scouting team. “It is very easy to look back at any transfer window and make a judgment on the players you have signed three years down the line.

“But you have to go back to the situation when we were in those moments, in the relegation zone and trying to recruit players. That is not an easy thing to do.

“You're also recruiting not just for the short term, but for the long term. When you look back, that work was good. Our objective was to stay in the league, so I'm not going to critique every signing, but I'm very, very proud of the body of work that we did and the players that we have now from the legacy of those transfer windows.

“We love them to bits, so I think it's about when you're in that moment and the decisions that you made. I think everyone can hold their heads up very high.”

On the pitch, Newcastle are unbeaten having taken seven points from three matches despite failing to dominate in any of the games. “Performance wise, we haven’t hit top gear,” admitted Howe.

“We have done well in different passages of each game but not consistently throughout the 90 minutes, that's what we're looking to do … because we are going into a spell where we are playing away from home now, some difficult games.”

Midfielder Sandor Tonali played twice for Italy in Nations league matches during the international break in his first appearances for his country since his 10-month ban for breaching betting rules. Tonali is line for starting place at Wolves but striker Callum Wilson's recovery from a back injury is taking longer than expected.

“I was pleased to see [Tonali][ play. He has performed well, those games would have done him the world of good,” Howe said.

“It's the first few steps for him, we are delighted he is available for us. Sandro has that flair and ability to make the difference. He is a player we absolutely love.

“Callum is a little bit behind where we want him to be. We envisaged he might be training for the games coming up, but he isn't there yet.”