Newcastle have a strong pool of 14-15 players, but their recruitment last summer was a mess and a large amount of money was wasted. That cannot be allowed to happen again. When injuries hit, Newcastle’s back-up players are not good enough to compete with the best teams in England, let alone Europe.
Of their six summer signings, only centre-back Malick Thiaw and midfielder Jacob Ramsey have improved the squad. Winger Anthony Elanga has looked fragile and inconsistent. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, a loan signing, makes too many mistakes. The two strikers signed to replace Alexander Isak, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa have flopped.
Woltemade is being asked to play in midfield as he is not suited to the centre-forward role in a Howe team and Wissa barely plays as he has looked short of the standards required. One of them is likely to be sold in the summer, even if it means taking a loss. £65m and £55m was spent on Woltemade and Wissa, respectively.
Lessons have also been learnt from the Isak saga when Newcastle insisted their star player would not be sold all summer, only to buckle at the end of the window after the Sweden international went on strike.
What followed has been described internally as panic. Newcastle did not want to sign either Woltemade or Wissa at the start of August, but after failing to land Liam Delap, João Pedro, Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko, they signed both.
With hindsight, it is recognised that not selling Isak earlier in the window, when they knew he was desperate to go to Liverpool, was a mistake. It will not be repeated.
This has important implications. Bruno Guimarães, Tino Livramento, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali have all been heavily linked with moves ahead of the summer. Some of them will also want to leave. Newcastle will ask them to be honest, get an understanding of their position and then set asking prices for those who are no longer committed.
Not all of them will go or want to do so, but if one of their star players is adamant they want to depart, they will not be kept against their will.
In turn, Newcastle know they cannot keep relying on loyal servants. Kieran Trippier is 35, Dan Burn is 33, Fabian Schär is 34 and Nick Pope is 33. They have been important players for Newcastle but while some will be kept as part of the squad, others will be moved on.
Sporting director Ross Wilson will lead recruitment and Newcastle want to sign younger players from across Europe to rejuvenate the squad and lower the average age. Major upheaval has been ruled out, but this still promises to be a Newcastle 2.0-style relaunch.
What sort of club do Newcastle want to be?