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NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe said the club will take into consideration the COVID-19 vaccination status of players before making any January transfer moves.

The Magpies are set for a defensive rebuild during the winter transfer window, which opens at midnight on Jan. 1, with Howe looking to add at least three defenders to his ranks, Arab News understands.

While dipping into the market is never easy midway through a campaign, an extra layer of complexity is added by the facts that COVID-19 cases are again on the rise and vaccine passports are now mandatory in the UK.

“It is certainly something we will be considering,” said Howe. “The vaccination status of players is something we will be taking very seriously.”

Regarding the state of play within his own squad in terms of double vaccination, the head coach added: “We are in constant dialogue with all of our players, educating them, making sure that we’re in tune with everyone else who has been following these guidelines.”

Howe has set his sights on former charge Kieran Trippier next month and we understand a deal to sign the Atletico Madrid full-back is progressing apace ahead of the transfer window. Howe has a long-standing relationship with the England international, having signed him from Manchester City while he was boss at Burnley a decade ago.

Trippier has since established himself as a top performer on the international stage — appearing at a World Cup and European Championships for Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions — and in the Premier League with the Clarets and Tottenham Hotspur.

Arab News understands that Trippier is willing to swap Champions League football in Spain for a relegation battle on Tyneside, as the 31-year-old is keen to return to English football. It’s understood a fee of £20-£25million ($27-$33 million) will secure the player’s services, with his contract due to run out in the summer.

When asked about Trippier, Howe declined to discuss the situation, saying: “No, I won’t be commenting on any individual players.”

Trippier is not the only defender on the United radar ahead of the transfer window. Paris Saint-Germain’s Abdou Diallo has been offered to the club on loan, while Burnley’s James Tarkowski and Ben Mee, Wolves’ Conor Coady and Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly remain of interest.

Any new arrivals are likely to be at least four, probably five, games down the line for Howe and in the meantime he understands the importance of squeezing every ounce of performance out of his current crop.

“I believe in the players,” he said. “I have said that from day one. Nothing I have seen has changed my mind. We have to consistently improve; we have got a lot of work to do but there is a lot of talent in the squad.

“There are areas we are focusing on, to individually improve people in those areas. In January there are one or two players who could maybe help our squad but our main focus has to be on getting the best out of the players we have.”

One current player who has come under the microscope this week, after a defensive horror show at Leicester City on Sunday, is skipper Jamaal Lascelles. He deleted his Twitter account this week, as did his mother Jill, in light of the online abuse directed his way after the 4-0 defeat.

Ahead of a trip to Liverpool tomorrow, Howe said of his captain: “Jamaal contributed to a lot of very positive parts of our game.

“We are disappointed to concede the goals but everyone has to shoulder the blame for that, from the front to the back.”