Eddie Howe has acknowledged that Newcastle United's summer transfer activity has been constrained by UEFA's Squad Cost Ratio regulations, forcing a shift towards younger signings.
Transfer warning and spending
Howe revealed the club has spent £112m on Sean Steur, Aladji Bamba, Ewen Jaouen and Bazoumana Toure. However, high-profile exits include Sandro Tonali's £100m move to Tottenham Hotspur and Anthony Gordon's £69.3m sale to Barcelona, while Bruno Guimaraes could also depart for Arsenal if a deal is reached.
"Ideally, we want to grow the team, so we have taken a hit there," Howe said. "We are then trying to replace but due to financial restraints we are going through a different phase of our recruitment, going very young."
Young talents need patience
Howe stressed that the new recruits require support and time. "Those young players need support and time to develop the skills. They are all exciting talents and have great futures ahead of them but we need to be calm with them."
He added: "I think it has been a challenging summer for us, losing Sandro and Anthony has been tough. We don't want to lose our best players."
Friendly draw and Steur debut
Newcastle drew 1-1 with National League side Gateshead, saved by an own goal from Ben Williams 11 minutes from time. Dutch teenager Steur impressed Howe, who said on the club's TV channel: "I thought he did really well... he showed a lot of his qualities... very good on the ball and very progressive and creative from a deep position."
Howe urged caution: "There are things to work on in his game. Physically, he needs time to develop so I'd always urge caution and don't want to hype him too much but he looks a talent."
Upcoming fixtures
Newcastle face Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Wednesday before heading to La Manga for a training camp and a friendly against Valencia at the Mestalla. Howe downplayed criticism of the Gateshead draw: "We want to build our fitness and sharpness... We have been in total control of both games. I would like to create more and score more, but I think that will come."
