NEWCASTLE UNITED are considering summer moves for players that would be regarded as “marquee signings”, but Eddie Howe has warned the club are heading into their toughest transfer window yet under their Saudi Arabia-backed ownership group.

Having guaranteed their place in next season’s Champions League when they drew with Leicester City on Monday, the Magpies play their final game of the campaign when they head to Chelsea for what is effectively a dead rubber on Sunday afternoon.

After that, attention will switch to the summer when Howe and the rest of the club’s recruitment team will attempt to make the changes that are required to enable Newcastle to compete on domestic and European fronts next season.

The Magpies will pursue a number of different targets, with a central midfielder, left-back and wide attacker currently regarded as the priority positions. Declan Rice and James Maddison continue to be touted as leading domestic targets – the former might well prove to be out of Newcastle’s price range – with Moussa Diaby having been one of long-term interest overseas.

Signing any of those players would almost certainly require the Magpies to break their current wage structure, but with Champions League qualification having altered the club’s status at a stroke, Howe accepts the goalposts have moved when it comes to the type of player Newcastle might potentially be able to attract this summer.

When asked whether Newcastle were looking to bring in a ‘marquee signing’, Howe said: “There would be players we’d love to bring in that would be classified in that bracket I’m sure.

“For me, it’s more about the role they can fulfil in the team, whether that’s viewed positively or as a marquee signing then great.

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“I’m not in my mind thinking, ‘We have to have one of those players that ticks that box for the supporters’. As much as I’d love to do that, it’s about finding the right player in the right position who I think makes us better.”

While Amanda Staveley has talked bullishly about competing with the very biggest clubs in Europe, both on and off the pitch, Howe has always adopted a more measured approach when it has come to assessing Newcastle’s ability to compete for the continent’s leading players in the transfer market.

That caution remains in place, with the Premier League and UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations continuing to limit the Magpies’ scope for spending on both transfer fees and wages, but if players capable of making an immediate impact on the Champions League are to arrive on Tyneside this summer, Howe concedes the club will have to raise their investment parameters to Champions League levels.

“Unfortunately, players don’t come cheap, especially good players,” he said. “Yes, we are going to have to spend a certain amount of money. How much that is I don’t know.

“I still don’t know what my budget is at this moment in time but there will have to be some expenditure. It will have to be controlled. It will have to be under FFP restrictions which we have worked under and will continue to work under. They are definitely impacting us and what we will be able to do.”

Nevertheless, Howe concedes that the current Newcastle squad lacks the depth needed to enable it to be competitive in both the Premier League and Champions League simultaneously.

The Magpies’ first-choice XI has proved itself to be in the top four in the English top-flight, but as recent weeks have proved, the level drops significantly once injuries being to bite and changes have to be made.

“There are certain positions that if we had suffered injuries this year, we would have been in a difficult situation,” said Howe. “Thankfully, this year, we didn’t suffer many injuries in those positions and we were able to navigate the season with a strong enough team.

“But, with the competitions we will be entering next year and the extra games that we have got, it’s not going to be possible to play the same team in every game. That will be impossible, so that’s where you need the depth and the strength - hopefully we can find the players.”

Finding those players is one thing, of course, convincing them to move to Newcastle and then being able to afford them is quite another. The Magpies have enjoyed huge successes in the three transfer windows since Amanda Staveley’s Saudi Arabia-backed ownership group completed their buyout of Mike Ashley, but as the standard of player being targeted rises, so it becomes increasingly difficult to strike the right balance between squad improvement and financial prudence.

“I hoped to do some things anyway, and I don’t necessarily think qualifying for the Champions League changes the numbers because the numbers are dictated by the 25-man squad (in the Premier League) and then we have to produce a squad for the Champions League.

“So, it won’t be a lot in terms of numbers, but it will hopefully be a selective amount and the right two or three players who can make the difference.

“We have done some really good work here, and that’s going to need to be repeated, but this will be our hardest window to date. In my mind, there is no doubt about that because the pool of players we have to select from is very small.

“We have challenges ahead, it's not as easy as everyone thinks it is to navigate the transfer market. There is always a bump in the road you've got to navigate yourself around, so it's not going to be a slam dunk.”