Eddie Howe - "I felt very uncomfortable over the summer"

This week, Simon Jordan released his in-depth interview with Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe, with one section featuring a discussion on the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules, otherwise known as PSR.

The boss believes it is a flawed system that makes it tough for clubs like Newcastle to overtake the 'big six' on a consistent basis, admitting that he does not agree with the new rules that forced the club into a "really uncomfortable" position over the summer.

This, of course, refers to the sale of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh on 'PSR deadline day' at the end of June. Howe reflected on this as a moment that "just doesn't feel right", insisting we were forced to sell young players "against our will" to comply with financial rules.

“It’s getting more and more difficult (for a club like Newcastle to break into the big six). I’m a believer that anything is possible and Leicester proved that if you get everything right, in a one-off season you can do unbelievable things.

"I believe we could do that if we got everything right. But could we do that consistently under the current rules? Probably not. I don’t agree with the new rules."

"I felt really uncomfortable in the summer when we were forced to make sales of two really talented young players in Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, against our will really for financial reasons.

"One was an academy product we'd invested in since he joined the club as a young lad. You just think, 'why are we doing this? This just doesn't feel right'.  I understand the (PSR) rules to a degree and the concept, but how it’s fundamentally working atm is not right."

Howe's transfer window fear

Howe also fears that the PSR rules are now "going against" the intrigue and excitement that new signings bring, feeling it was quite telling that trading was down last summer due to a number of club's struggle to spend:

The buying and selling of players has always been a good thing for the game. It brings intrigue and so much more to the game, but now we’re almost going against that.

"Trading was down this summer more than it has been for a long time which isn’t healthy for the game. I think PSR was brought in to do one thing, but it’s turned into something totally different.”

Howe's message on Friday morning

During Friday's press conference ahead of our trip to Brentford, The Athletic's Chris Waugh asked if the club must sell to buy in January to work within PSR regulations.

Howe's reply was pretty non-committal to say the least, saying: "You want a lot of clarity there, I’m not sure I can give it to you,” Howe said on whether Newcastle can sign anyone next month without selling.

“Of course, I know the picture, but the issue with PSR and the issue with our position is that nothing’s ever clear cut because it’s not… I’d need some time to sit down and sort of go through everything with you, which I’m not going to do anyway, so that’s irrelevant!

“We will try and do our best. I keep saying the same things, we’ll try and do our best. Nothing’s absolutely fixed at the moment. There’ll be a lot of twists and turns, but the want from everyone internally is to try and improve the squad.

“If we can do, we will. If we can’t, we won’t. (In future due to PSR) we’re going to have to be clever with what we do (trading-wise).”