NEWCASTLE United's bosses and recruitment team are well down the line with their planning for the January transfer window, but Eddie Howe is happy to take a back seat for now.
Howe has held a couple of preliminary meetings with the recruitment staff to look ahead to the winter window but won't be overly involved in discussions until the end of next month, when preparations step up.
The Magpies will look to be active in January, with a fresh move for summer target Marc Guehi a possibility. That situation will be monitored. Strengthening at centre-half remains on the wishlish.
A more immediate priority, however, is at right-wing. Newcastle wanted a right sided attacker in the summer but instead prioritised a move for Guehi. They made a speculative late move for Nottingham Forest forward Anthony Elanga but were knocked back.
Right-wing has proved problematic for Howe in the early stages of the season, with Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron both failing to nail down the spot in the side, while Harvey Barnes looks more comfortable on the left.
Newcastle will also have to monitor their situation up-front amid Callum Wilson's ongoing injury issues. Wilson hasn't kicked a ball yet this season and suffered a fresh setback last week.
Will Osula arrived in the summer but isn't deemed ready for regular Premier League football and his only start so far this season came in the Carabao Cup win over Wimbledon. However, a push for a new striker is likely to have to wait until next summer.
The Magpies will also have their eyes on more young talent after this week's capture of Vakhtang Salia, with Paul Mitchell telling of the importance of "scouting and recruiting emerging talent".
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Howe will take a back seat on transfers for now and focus on the immediate challenges on the pitch for the next month at least.
Asked about planning ahead of January, he said: "I'd say a very small part from my input. At the moment we're in a flood of games and I'm focusing very much on the team, the training, the games we have.
"We've had a couple of internal meetings behind the scenes but no more than that.
"All windows all important, there's never one that doesn't feel that way because you never know what will happen.
"My part in that will probably take prominence from the end of November.
"At the moment there'll be a lot of work being done behind the scenes that I'm not necessarily a part of. I'll start to get involved probably the end of November, start of December."
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