Will Champions League qualification affect Newcastle United's transfer plans? - Eddie Howe speaks up

With three Premier League games remaining, Newcastle United are still well in the mix for a spot in next season's Champions League.

Qualifying for Europe's top competition would cap off an excellent season for Newcastle, having ended their 70-year wait for domestic silverware by lifting the Carabao Cup.

That win already qualifies the Magpies for the Europa Conference League, but a top-five finish would bag them a spot in the Champions League.

Beyond the prestige of playing in the elite competition, there's also the financial bonuses that come along with it.

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Eddie Howe doesn't believe Champions League qualification will change NUFC's transfer strategy

Newcastle stand to earn significantly more money if they qualify for the Champions League than they would going to Europa via the Conference League. A higher Premier League position equals a higher payday, and the prize money on offer in the Champions League is significantly higher than UEFA's other competitions, too.

On top of that, players, especially the kind of players Newcastle will be targeting this summer, will be more inclined to want to join a team playing in the Champions League. So with that being said, Eddie Howe was asked if he believes his summer transfer plans hinge on Champions League qualification, but the Toon gaffer told reporters in his pre-match press conference that he doesn't think it will.

"I don't know the intricacies of our financial position depending on Champions League qualification. I don't think it changes too much, in terms of our targets and who we look to try and sign, just because we're trying to go for the best players in a very small pool of players to pick from.

"Obviously, I think it's where we want to be, that's where we want to play, we want to be in the highest level competitions we can. We want to test ourselves to the absolute maximum and try and recreate those great nights here."

Champions League qualification may not affect our approach, but it will affect our outcome in the transfer market

It may not change Newcastle's approach to the transfer window, but it may drastically alter the results.

Not just from a point of having the money to pursue these targets, but having the selling point of offering Champions League football.

While players are very aware of Newcastle's trajectory and that even if we fail to nab Champions League this season, it's only a matter of time before we are playing regularly in that competition, not many players think that far ahead and would rather be playing in it now, if the opportunity is there.

It's just a couple of weeks to go before we find out which European competition we will be playing in next season, however, Sunday's result should give us a pretty good idea of what our chances are.