The Athletic's Chris Waugh does not believe Newcastle United's new owners want to pay £100m for a single player yet, and he has questioned whether they ever will get to that stage.
The club's majority shareholders, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), are the richest owners in world football, but Waugh has suggested that they might be cautious with their money when it comes to spending eye-watering amounts on individual players.
What's the latest news involving Newcastle?
On the pitch, it has been a dismal start to the season for the North-East club. The Magpies have failed to win any of their opening 10 top-flight matches, and they were dispatched 3-0 by Chelsea in their latest outing on Saturday.
That result has left them six points from safety, and they have the second-worst defensive record in the division, having conceded 23 goals in the league already.
In order to fight off the threat of relegation, it seems that the club will have to spend big in January, but Waugh is not convinced that they will be paying nine-digit transfer fees for players just yet.
What has Waugh said about Newcastle's potential transfer plans?
Some fans may be expecting PIF to splash the cash in the next transfer window. Waugh expects the owners to take a different approach, though, and instead look to build the team over time.
He told GIVEMESPORT: “I’m going to go out and say, £100m players, they’re not at that stage yet. They may never get to that stage in terms of, they may never want to fork out that much money on one player because PIF still see this as a sort of investment, and they want to grow that investment.”
Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal Reaction Show
Should this concern Newcastle fans?
Newcastle spending their money on a variety of players to get them out of trouble rather than just one or two big names sounds like a sensible strategy right now. There is no doubt that the team are struggling at the moment, and it will take more than just a single £100m player to fix things.
However, in the long run, Newcastle supporters will probably want their owners to spend big on some of the best players in the world. Manchester City set the new standard in the summer when they signed Jack Grealish for £100m.
If the Magpies want to be competing with the biggest clubs in the country in the next 5-10 years, they may have to be willing to pay huge money, otherwise they risk being unable to overhaul the likes of City and Chelsea in the seasons ahead.
Read More - January Transfer Window 2022: When does it open, when does it close and which players are going to move?