And unfortunately, Howe will have no doubt been left frustrated at the lack of incoming players, despite us making numerous attempts to sign several top targets over the past six weeks.

But with the recent news that we are interested in signing Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, things could be about to get better for the gaffer and the squad.

Wissa eyes move as Toon and Spurs circle

According to BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel, Yoane Wissa sees his future away from the GTech Community Stadium and won’t entertain contract talks as he looks to land a move away.

The Bees are doing all they can to keep last season’s 20-goal striker and have attempted to open contract talks in hope of extending his stay in West London.

But he is ‘privately’ angling for a move away and aware of interest from Newcastle, Spurs and Nottingham Forest, who could all offer him European football next season.

In a potential double boost for our hopes of landing the DR Congo star, BBC Sport also report that Newcastle and Spurs will have no issues agreeing personal terms with the player, suggesting aspects of a deal have already been explored.

Brentford have previously valued him at the £50m mark , and with only Mo Salah recording more non-penalty goals in the league last season, they won’t be willing to part ways with Wissa any time soon.

Could Mbeumo departure be an issue?

Of course, any more for Wissa will have no doubt been made difficult by Friday’s news that Man Utd had agreed a deal with Brentford to sign Wissa’s attacking partner Bryan Mbeumo.

Keith Andrews will now be even more reluctant to see his side’s other star goalscorer go this summer after already losing several key members.

They won’t be short of cash, having already sold Mark Flekken to Bayer Leverkusen earlier in the window and Christian Norgaard to Arsenal before agreeing a £71m deal for Mbeumo.

Paying anything close to £50m for a player soon to be 29-years-old will seem like a big risk to all those who are interested. That seems too pricey and Brentford will be in no rush to sell.

But for Newcastle, this is a Premier League-proven player who can handily deputise across our attacking line – one who would only be a few months older than what Callum Wilson was when we signed the Englishman back in 2020.

It’s a risky investment to make if the fee is big, but with how dire the current market is for attacking options after Delap, Pedro and Ekitike all went elsewhere, and how badly we need depth to help out Alexander Isak, it’s a risk we may just take.