Newcastle eyeing transfer targets

Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias has promised the club will support Alan Pardew in the transfer market in the off-season.

Newcastle were in danger of being dragged into a relegation fight earlier this season, but have turned things around since the January arrivals of, among others, Moussa Sissoko and Mathieu Debuchy.

And, despite the significant investment seen earlier this year, Llambias has revealed that chief scout Graham Carr is already identifying new targets.

“There is still money available. There are several positions we are looking at,” he told reporters.

“Next year, we will have the TV money. There is a budget to spend. But our transfer policy remains the same – no trophy buys. Basically, we will continue our model as it is. It works, so we won’t break it.

“We are actively looking at players, and have been since October. All over Europe – it’s not just France. That’s been a good market for us but there are only so many you can get from there.

“I think Graham Carr has more company when he is out there. He’s not wearing a disguise just yet. If he started wearing glasses, he would start looking like his son (comedian Alan Carr).”

Newcastle announced profits of 1.4 million pounds for the last financial year on Wednesday, and Llambias has hailed the work done behind the scenes at the club.

He added: “Consider where we were in 2008/09, and where we are now. It is a huge difference and we have increased the size of the squad in the meantime.

“We are definitely going in the right direction. We had a 17 million-pound operating loss in our first year.”