The buzz word inside Newcastle United is ‘headroom’, a PSR allowance that enables them to spend big come the summer. But what they risk is an even bigger headache, if by keeping their powder dry the cannon backfires and they miss out on the Champions League and a first domestic trophy in 70 years.
It is now three transfer windows without a first-team addition. A new signing would have brought freshness to a dressing-room where the elephant sits by the empty pegs. It was Eddie Howe who introduced the word ‘stale’ last month when talking of the dangers of not refreshing a group who have gone so hard for so long.