Newcastle Transfer Dossier: Keeping Quartet A Priority As Toon Search For Striker

Newcastle's last season was in stark contrast to the campaign before, with the Toon going from celebrations of participation in Europe to fighting off relegation until the beginning of May this year.

The side will be looking to build, though Mike Ashley is clearly hoping to do so on tight purse strings and keeping players will be just as important for a club who want to be challenging at the top of the table rather than escaping the bottom of it. IBTimes UK looks at the possible ins and outs for the Toon this summer.

Business so far

None as yet with most club executives away on their holidays and celebrating the fact Newcastle just avoided relegation. The issue of Fabricio Collocini has come up, with the skipper hoping to head back to Argentina after being made to stay against his wishes in January. This will no doubt be a top priority for Pardew when pre-season begins but it looks no closer to a resolution at this stage.

What they need

A striker for one, with a lack of depth up front posing a serious problem for Newcastle last season, particularly when Demba Ba made the move to Chelsea in January. The need for a centre-back is also present, whether Coloccini stays or goes, after his injury woes during last season left Newcastle very thin in their backline.

Who could join

While Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was believed to be a top target for the club this summer, he has been quoted as saying that only Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Swansea have asked about the Saint Etienne striker's availability. Connections still continue to FC Twente star Douglas, and Derby youngster Will Hughes is also believed to be under consideration.

The club will no doubt continue to stick to their ruthless signing tactics of not bringing in a player who they believe is more expensive than his value, and young players will be high on the agenda as the Toon look for resale value as well. The rebuilding of the side under Pardew will continue, and though he had a disappointing second campaign in charge, Ashley clearly still has faith in his manager to deliver a more consistent squad this summer.

Who could leave

Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye are both on the radars of a number of European clubs, and while there have been no enquiries over their availability as yet, when the summer hits the business end this could be a very different story. Holding out for the right fee will be particularly important for Newcastle if they hope not to repeat their relegation scrap again.

Star striker Papiss Cisse has been linked with a possible move to Russia, with his agent suggesting that there is interest from seveal clubs, but Newcastle will be desperate to keep hold of a player who has the ability to score some frankly spectacular, and important, goals.

The likes of Danny Simpson and Steve Harper are out of contract and will be leaving at the end of the month, while Mike Williamson and Dan Gosling could also be on their way out to make room for more new faces.

What the manager has said

"We need to be a lot stronger in depth, rather than individual quality," Pardew explained as the season came to a close. "The team was strong, when we could field it, but we couldn't field it enough.

"It's important to understand the demands of a European campaign, but we won't have that next year, so that will make life a lot more simple for us."

Pardew is saying all the right things, claiming that Newcastle need more depth and strikers, but will this transfer over to action? You never know with Ashley.

One important thing to remember, as Pardew points out, is that without European football the squad won't be so stretched. But Pardew is well aware that a striker is still needed to complete the squad.

"We need to score more goals, and threaten the goal more than we did this year," he said. "We need to bring in a top line striker, that's perhaps the main criteria [for the transfer window].

"We've got a couple of other problems we need to solve, and hopefully in the transfer market we can do that."