MY ACCOUNT
Newcastle United might be one of the few clubs capable of signing Cristiano Ronaldo, but Eddie Howe has suggested the Magpies’ interest lies elsewhere.
Ronaldo wanted to leave Manchester United in the last transfer window, but the 37-year-old ultimately stayed at Old Trafford.
He has only had a bit-part role under Erik ten Hag, though came on from the bench to score United’s winner against Everton last week, bringing up his 700th club goal in the process.
There remains question marks over his future, but ahead of United’s meeting with Newcastle on Sunday, Howe – while revealing his huge appreciation of Ronaldo – indicated his side are looking towards signings more suited to a long-term approach.
When asked in a press conference if Newcastle, backed by the wealth of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would be interested in signing Ronaldo, Howe told reporters: “We’re trying to provide long-term growth, we’ve got a longer-term vision.
“At the moment, we have quite an ageing squad, so we need to invest more in young players. That’s probably a big part of our progression, we need to get the average age down.
“So, it might not be a signing that we would necessarily look to make, but that’s not under-estimating the quality of the player.
“He’s an outstanding player. You look at his goal record last year, that was incredible. So, for me, the transfer [to United] has worked, it’s been a success.
“He got massive goals last year and some really late, important goals in the Champions League. The quality of the player is unquestionable.
“We are going to have to be very, very good against him if he plays. We’re going to have to brief our players on the areas from where he wants to score That’s something we have to be aware of.”
Newcastle spent big on Sven Botman from Lille and Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad – aged 22 and 23 respectively – to bolster their squad for this season.
Howe’s side had lost only one of their opening nine league games this season ahead of Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford.
