Howe speaks out on Newcastle’s chances of signing Neymar and Ronaldo – ‘unbelievable players’

Eddie Howe has played down links with Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar as he thinks Newcastle United first need to unearth future superstars.

The Magpies have been at the centre of speculation over big-money moves ever since Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium completed its takeover towards the end of 2021.

Newcastle have invested in excess of £250million in new players over the past three transfer windows, but have been touted as contenders to land both Ronaldo and Neymar in recent days.

Asked about the prospect of some of the best players in the world one day plying their trade on Tyneside, head coach Howe – who has persistently cited financial fair play as a limiting factor on the club’s recruitment plans – said: “It is best to discover them before they explode onto the world scene.

“We could not be able to come close to affording those players as they are the best players in the world.

“We are never going to be in a position currently to afford those transfer fees and wages, so we need to go underneath and find them young and develop them into the players they can be.”

’ business to date has been shrewd with the likes of Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier having arrived for relatively modes fees before more sizeable investment in Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.

But, having guided the club into third place in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s showdown with title-chasing Arsenal, Howe knows it is inevitable they will be linked with bigger names.

Asked about Ronaldo and Neymar, he said: “That kind of speculation has been there from day one since the takeover, really. Naturally everyone has then assumed the biggest names in world football will be going to Newcastle.

“Now we’ve not recruited that way. Financially, we can’t recruit that way at the moment, but also we have to bring the right people and the right players into the group.

“I will say the transfer market is such a complex decision, you can’t just pick a name and bring them in. There’s got to be a lot of thought going into what we’re doing both financially and looking at the players.

“Those two players are unbelievable players. We are linked with different names.

Howe’s comments came amid reports that Lionel Messi could command a £320million a year package – £15million more than Staveley and her partners paid for Newcastle – if he opts to move to Saudi Arabia’s Pro League this summer.