Amanda Staveley hints at two Newcastle summer signings as they were ‘desperate’ to join

Amanda Staveley has hinted at two Newcastle United summer signings as they were “desperate” to join in the January window.

The Toon went through a copious amount of targets last month as they sought to splash their newfound cash. They were met with a number of different obstacles and had to cross off plenty of names before securing their eventual five signings.

However, should they now survive the threat of Premier League relegation, the summer could be very fruitful on Tyneside.

They will be able to appeal with a fresh slate to players. And it would be no surprise to see them revisit some failed deals.

Speaking to The Athletic, Staveley said: “We were 19th going into the window.

“So we had that, an illiquid market, and the complexity of COVID-19, which meant clubs didn’t want to sell because they didn’t know where their squads would end up.

“We had to encourage players. ‘We’ll be a safe place for you, we’ll deliver and grow’. Some desperately wanted to come to us, like Sven [Botman], who still does very much and has talked very openly about that.

“Coming through all that showed us we can do it, that we can stick to our plan.

“And if we get criticised on the last day for ‘oh, you’re going after Jesse (Lingard)’, well, Jesse wanted to come to us.

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“We did everything. We never stopped. From the start to the finish, we did not stop working.”

Lille’s Botman has indeed spoken out about his fondness of a move to Newcastle. There will be rivals for the highly-rated centre-back’s signature, though.

Lingard will of course be a free agent after his Manchester United contract expires. And it seems Staveley and co will be in a straight shoot out with West Ham.

Newcastle track young striker

Meanwhile, Newcastle are among a host of Premier League and Championship sides tracking National League starlet Josh Stones, TEAMtalk understands.

The 18-year-old striker is playing regularly for Guiseley in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football.

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He has made 11 appearances so far this campaign and opened his goalscoring account during a 1-0 victory over Telford back in December.

Stones is impressing teams across the country and is also a part of the England schoolboy setup. He captained the U18 side during their recent match against Crystal Palace’s academy, a club who also have their eye on him.

The young ace found the back of the net as the match ended 1-1.

TEAMtalk has learned that plenty of English sides were in attendance to watch Stones, setting up a transfer race ahead of the summer.

READ MORE: Contract dispute gives Newcastle hope of closing snare on familiar Ligue 1 star