IF Newcastle United are to follow up the arrival of Danny Rose before tonight’s transfer deadline with a new striker then the club’s preferred targets are running low.

While Chelsea’s experienced World Cup winner Olivier Giroud and Hull City’s Jarrod Bowen are still in head coach Steve Bruce’s thoughts, the Magpies have seen a couple of other attacking targets head elsewhere.

Borussia Dortmund’s Paco Alcacer is set to join Villarreal in a deal worth around £21m, while Hertha Berlin have lured Krzysztof Piatek from AC Milan in a £23.5m deal.

With Piatek heading to Germany because Newcastle – and Spurs – were only looking to sign him on loan, Bruce’s main focus is now centred on Giroud and Bowen if there is to be another forward through the door this month.

Newcastle are having to rely heavily on £40m record-buy Joelinton right now, even though the Brazilian has struggled to live up to his price-tag so far.

He has only scored once in the Premier League since joining from Hoffenheim in the summer, while Bruce has kept faith with him up front.

Giroud would represent an ideal short-term replacement if Newcastle can get that deal over the line.

At 34-year-old he does not slot in with the club’s usual transfer policy, but he would be able to adapt to the system if a £3m loan deal can be secured. Lazio are also fighting hard for his signature.

Bowen, on the other hand, would be very much a player for the future and a risk at top-flight level because his only Premier League football was three years ago during Hull’s relegation campaign when he barely played.

Newcastle know they will have to strike a deal worth more than £20m to land the 23-year-old Championship hot-shot and Crystal Palace are in the mix too.

The ongoing takeover talk on Tyneside suggests it would be more difficult for Mike Ashley to commit to such a deadline day move, but an offer was made for Bowen this week.

If Nottingham Forest can complete a loan move with a view to a £15m summer deal for Dwight Gayle, then that will clearly help Bruce's cause too.

Newcastle have already added winger Valentino Lazaro from Inter this month as well as midfielder Nabil Bentaleb from Schalke. Both are loan deals which could be turned into permanent arrangements this summer.

Rose completed his loan switch to Newcastle until the end of the season from Tottenham, as The Northern Echo online reported on Wednesday evening.

And he has described how excited he is to have joined one of the "biggest clubs in England". The Tottenham left-back has moved to St James' Park until his contract will expire at Spurs, so his long term future will be determined then.

But Rose, who played in the 2018 World Cup semi-final and the 2019 Champions League final, is delighted to have made the move to Tyneside to become Bruce’s third signing of the window.

“It’s a great honour for me to be here. I’m so grateful that the manager has brought me in and I’m looking to repay him in every way I can as soon as I’m playing,” Rose told NUFC TV.

“For me, it’s really exciting that I can come here and have the chance to play in front of the Newcastle fans.

“Newcastle is one of the biggest clubs in England. I spoke to the manager last night and he told me there were 50,000 fans here at the weekend against Oxford. You can’t go wrong with that kind of passion and support from the fans, and it’s something I’m looking forward to.”

Doncaster-born Rose has been angling to head north again after moving to Tottenham in 2007 from Leeds United. Rose has 29 international caps and will wear the No. 28 shirt for Newcastle. He should make his debut in Saturday’s Premier League game against Norwich at St James’.

Bruce added: “He has proven quality, as he’s shown over several years for club and country, and is a class act. It’s a big coup for us to get him here and we’re looking forward to working with him.”