Howe hits back at transfer rumour and hints "four or five" targets have been pursued
Eddie Howe has rubbished claims that it was 'Marc Guehi or no-one' in our pursuit of a centre-back this summer, insisting we have pursued "numerous players."
The Mail's Craig Hope reported yesterday that Howe was fixated on the signing of the Crystal Palace signing, but the boss has played down those suggestions today, saying we "absolutely" explored other options.
Howe hinted that we had "four or five" options shortlisted but won't sign someone for the sake of it, insisting the "right player" has to arrive based on their quality, age, transfer fee, wages, profile and character coming into a settled squad.
When The Telegraph's Luke Edwards asked if the club have pursued several centre-back targets and not just Guehi, Howe was quick to refute those claims. "Absolutely. But I'm never going to tell you who they are, but you'll understand why that would be the case."
"We've tried for numerous players, but there's not a bottomless pit of names - I will say that at the same time. But there wouldn't be for any other club in our position. There is probably four or five names that you go through, then at the end of that you go 'is this player of sufficient' quality.
“It's never been about one player. It can never be about one player, because as soon as you're in that position, then your negotiation strength is over.
"So, no, we've tried for several targets, but it still has to be the right player though. And there isn't an unlimited number of players. It's not like you can, well, we'll just go on to the next one, the next one, the next one. Because then the quality dilutes and then you have to question whether you're doing the right thing for the long-term future of the club.
"There isn't a bottomless pit of money. We're not able to spend that way. Everything that we do has a long-term consequence. So you've got to be very sure whatever you do is right for the long-term future and short-term future of the club.”
He then went on to explain what is the "right player", adding: “The right player is multi-factored, really. It's the right age, the right deal as in transfer fee, the right wages, then the right player to actually come into your squad, the right positional need. There's loads of things. If one of those things is not right, especially financially for us, it puts us in a difficult situation."
There was an interesting comment from Howe when the i's Mark Douglas asked if a big move (Guehi?) hasn't happened due to PSR 'headroom' or the fees quoted. "A combination of all", he said.
If I had to guess, the club were happy to pay so much (£65m?) for Guehi, but wouldn't go to the £70-75m suggested due to our PSR limit and the fear of overpaying, which would set a precedent (that we've been trying to remove) moving forwards.
