Transfer gamble as Toon decide not to bolster back line

THE transfer window slammed shut at 7pm last night and an incredibly tame deadline day passed by Newcastle United without major incident.

- By SEAN MCCORMICK Football writer

Jamaal Lascelles was ready to say farewell after 11 and a half years, returning to the East Midlands to sign for Championship side Leicester City, and that was as exciting as it got for Newcastle other than the furore around a speculated late Arsenal bid for Sandro Tonali.

In truth, we didn't expect anything else after Eddie Howe poured cold water on any last-minute transfer business being done in the dying embers of the transfer window, but the Magpies will now have to live or die by their decision to keep their powder dry over the past month.

January was never going to be a month where Newcastle made drastic changes to their playing approach.

And after signing two strikers, a winger and a midfielder in the summer, there was very little prospect of panic signings in those positions, despite slow starts from many of their summer recruits.