Howe might safeguard a crucial player for Newcastle United by forgoing ambitions to acquire talent for £45 million.
With the race for the top four and awards still very much alive, the Magpies hope to strengthen their team even more during the winter.
Although Eddie Howe is already preparing for improvements, Newcastle United has carried over last season’s resounding record and is currently solidifying their position of dominance at the top of the Premier League table.
Newcastle is looking to bring in new players in January.
The English top division’s power dynamic has been broken by Newcastle thanks to their successful spending over the past several transfer windows, which helped them finish fourth last season. However, there is still work to be done, and Howe seems to have placed an emphasis on it.
Indeed, Emile Smith Rowe’s name has been touted, with the creative Arsenal midfielder sitting on the fringe with the north London side, with the Northern Echo reporting that a January move has been discussed.
He’s not the only rival midfielder to be linked with a move to St. James’ Park, with Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips set to leave the Etihad Stadium after scant match action, and Newcastle are among the suitors.
The England international wishes to remain with the English champions but, as the Daily Mail claims, the Magpies and Everton are interested and could now save his nightmare in obscurity.
Why hasn’t Kalvin Phillips played much at Man City?
City completed the £45m transfer of Phillips from Leeds United – where he had risen through the youth ranks – in July 2022, with Pep Guardiola compensating for the loss of stalwart Fernandinho.
In all honesty, it was a deal that had its caveats from the off, with Phillips yielding an unwanted injury record and Manchester City’s existing midfield options providing more than a testing task in cementing a starting berth.
And unfortunately for Phillips, that ordeal festered into a scorching baptism of fire, having played just 21 times and earned only two Premier League starts, leading the FWA’s Tom McDermott to brand the move a “waste”.
This season, he has made five appearances thus far but has only earned one start, coming during an injury-hit spell for his side against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup – doing himself no favours at the centre of a 1-0 defeat.
Now, Phillips is a talented midfielder and of course, boasts attributes that would bolster Newcastle’s squad, but given he has missed 34 matches across the past two campaigns due to injury and is displaying the last vestiges of his former vigour at Elland Road, Howe likely has his reservations.
Should Newcastle sign Phillips?
Negatively, it could well hamper the progress of someone such as Sean Longstaff, who has been hailed as the “unsung hero” of St. James’ Park by pundits Paul Merson and Jamie Redknapp.
As per FBref, the Toon academy graduate ranks among the top 12% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for touches in the attacking penalty area and the top 16% for progressive passes received, underscoring his energy and enthusiasm, weaving through promising passages of play into the danger areas.
Given that he has started half of Newcastle’s games this season, his persistence and diligence have been absolutely essential to the team’s mobility. His presence has also had a significant impact.
Without minimizing Phillips’ skills, it is his relentless work ethic and churning motor that have made the difference. Would it be wise for the Magpies to get rid of such a significant player?
Howe’s finger will ultimately fire the shot, but given the evidence at hand, it seems unlikely that he would take a chance on upsetting the balance for a player whose dependability is in doubt.
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