Star Metro - Howe expects more business as Newcastle close in on Guimaraes

Three months after a takeover from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund the Magpies are flexing their financial muscles in a bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

While Newcastle have won only two games all season and are in the relegation zone, they are only one point adrift of safety.

Howe's squad has already been bolstered this month by the arrivals of English international Kieran Trippier and striker Chris Wood from relegation rivals Burnley.

Guimaraes looks set to be next through the door at St. James' Park with a deal worth up to £40 million ($54 million) reportedly agreed between the clubs for the 24-year-old, who is currently on international duty with Brazil.

"We are hopeful we are getting close to completing a transfer," Howe said during a press conference from a training camp in Jeddah. "You can guess (who it is) if you want but there'll be no confirmation from me."

And the former Bournemouth boss is expecting more business to be done before Monday's transfer deadline.

"From my perspective I don't imagine that would be the end of our interest in bringing new players in," he added

"Whether that turns into reality, who knows? Things change very late in this window as everybody knows, it can be quite unpredictable in the last couple of days.

"We're open. We're working hard to improve the squad. Our biggest aim is to give the team the best chance of staying in the league."

The takeover backed by Saudi's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was fiercely criticised by human rights groups.

Accusations of sportswashing by the Gulf Kingdom have reemerged this week as the Newcastle squad travelled to Saudi.

Howe said he had met the club's chairman and governor of the PIF Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

"I've spoken with the chairman, we met him and that was a great experience to hear his thoughts on the club and his vision and how the future looks," added Howe.

"The players enjoyed that, I enjoyed that and a lot of people around the PIF team have been around here as well so it was a very good experience to bring everybody closer together."

F.Davis--SMC