'The future looks a little brighter': Eddie Howe gives Newcastle United fans hope after frustrating transfer window

For the second January transfer window in a row, Newcastle United failed to add any new faces to the first-team squad.

The big difference between this year and last is that there were first-team exits, which perhaps gave the impression that there could be a late deal done to replace at least one of those bodies but the more that the Deadline Day counter ticked down, the more apparent it became that Eddie Howe's early January words were true.

Howe said right at the start of the window that the club weren't looking to add players this month and that the focus was on player exits.

That's exactly how things unfolded, and despite the fact that we were all braced for it, the reaction on social media has been exactly what you'd expect.

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Eddie Howe says the goal for January was always to build up PSR headroom

Eddie Howe spoke to the media this morning ahead of tomorrow's huge game against Arsenal, and he told reporters (via The Chronicle) that the business done this month was necessary to get the club's finances in a strong position in terms of PSR.

"I said right at the start, in the build up to the window, that it was not a case really of looking at incomings, it was a case of trying to manage outgoings really and trying to not weaken the squad to a point where the team's affected.

"But we also future plan and make sure that we control everything in terms of our PSR level, so I think we've done that. I think it's been successful in that regard.

"I think the two sales - the two players go with our best wishes, they're two great lads. The squad is lighter in numbers but high in quality so I think for us managing injuries, etc will be a big part of what we do now in this part of the season coming up.

"There's still no reason why we can't be successful but yeah, hopefully the future looks a little bit brighter."

Let's pause the meltdown until the summer

Newcastle have failed to bring in any meaningful additions for the last three transfer windows now. Making Lewis Hall's loan move permanent, which was already in the works, was about the only piece of good incoming business we did in the summer that directly improved the first team, but given he was already part of that, it's hard to count it.

Lloyd Kelly was such a massive hit that we've already got rid of him and Will Osula was brought in as a project player to be in and around the first team, but not necessarily play.

If we've now got ourselves into a position where we're in a healthy position in terms of PSR, which we should have with players leaving, making a profit last year and the new rules coming into effect, then we definitely expect a much more exciting summer.