Eddie Howe admits that Newcastle could not afford Kalvin Phillips this January, as well as dropping hints about Callum Wilson’s future.

It seems like, for now, Newcastle and West Ham could be the two teams that consistently break into the top 6. Despite the Magpies owners being vastly richer, FFP keeps their budget relatively similar – especially this month. In fact, it seems like the Hammers may actually have been better off than the Geordies based on Eddie Howe’a recent comments in Kalvin Phillips.

At the start of the window, Newcastle were heavily linked with a move for the midfielder but it seems like they could not afford his loan fee. “We had to step away from that one due to financial reasons,” Howe stated.

Now that Phillips has put pen to paper in East London, West Ham are moving on to attacking targets and one player that they have been linked with is Callum Wilson. The 31 year old has found the back of the net 8 times this season but he continues to have ongoing injury problems. While the Newcastle manager has revealed that he would like to keep hold of the forward, he seemingly confesses that he may not be able to.

“It’s been a difficult window so far for us because it’s been the first time since I’ve been manager of the club that we’ve been linked with players leaving and that creates an unsettling dynamic.”

“A lot of those rumours are just rumours,” he continued. “Not all of it, but I’m trying to prepare for our next game and we want to keep the squad intact and we want to keep our best players.”

“That’s been a strange one because, again, there’s been a lot of speculation regarding Callum and I’ve seen some of it. Probably not all of it, but I think a lot of it has been unfounded. From our side, Callum is a huge part of what we’re doing.”

“But some things are out of my control and, of course, the club is acting within its long-term interests and it has to. I understand that and I’m fully supportive of it.”

While his goal scoring record speaks for itself, there are plenty of concerns for West Ham when it comes to a potential move. His age, injury record and wages all could put the Hammers off a move. Much like Newcastle, they are on a limited budget which would surely be spent better elsewhere.