Why Eddie Howe does not want to sell Newcastle duo with zero minutes played this season

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Eddie Howe has been reluctant to trim his Newcastle United squad in recent transfer windows.

Newcastle United have had no option but to sell in order to avoid a points deduction from a breach of the Profit and Sustainability Rules.

Eddie Howe’s hardest decision at Newcastle was selling Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest in the summer for a fee of £35m. Unfortunately, it was a necessary sacrifice.

But in other transfer discussions, Eddie Howe has made it clear that he wants to keep hold of players. For example, Kieran Trippier wanted to leave Newcastle in the summer but ended up staying on Tyneside.

Howe was ‘desperate’ to keep Trippier at the club, even though selling him would have raised funds and removed his £120,000 per week wages.

Despite interest from Saudi Arabia, Howe also wanted to keep Almiron at Newcastle in the summer.

Eddie Howe wants to keep John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie

In what turned out to be an extremely underwhelming summer transfer window, Newcastle signed two goalkeepers – Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy.

They joined an already stacked goalkeeper department that included Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka.

Dubravka has been linked with an exit, but after Pope suffered a lengthy injury, he has now stepped up to become Howe’s first-choice shot-stopper.

A January exit could now be ruled out for Dubravka as Howe scrambles to fill the void left by Pope.

According to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh, Howe also wants to keep hold of Ruddy and Mark Gillespie despite neither keeper having played a single minute of football this season.

Waugh explains that Howe wants to keep the veteran duo as they are “experienced figures who drive standards off the field despite not expecting to play”.

Eddie Howe must be ruthless with transfers

Newcastle must sell to buy in January, but Howe doesn’t seem willing to part ways with any of his players.

That was certainly the alarming transfer message from Howe after the 4-0 win over Ipswich.

READ MORE: Kieran Trippier’s stance on leaving Newcastle United in January after summer transfer request

Howe said: “I think the message towards the January transfer window is that at this moment in time, we need to concentrate on the players we do have and get the very best out of them.”

However, Howe also argued that his Newcastle squad is becoming “stale”. That can only be fixed with sales.