NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe has assured fans there is an urgency at Newcastle United to act, and do so quickly, in the January transfer window.

Howe has revealed work on securing targets has been ongoing for much of December with Atletico Madrid full-back Kieran Trippier and Lille鈥檚 Sven Botman top of the list of priorities.

And while there is an acceptance at St James鈥� Park that United do not have time on their side 鈥� and waiting out the window to sign late could prove counterproductive 鈥� Howe knows Newcastle may not have it all their own way, despite having the riches and expertise of majority shareholders, the Public Investment Fund of 萝莉视频, behind them.

鈥淔rom our perspective, we know we are in a hurry,鈥� Howe said. 鈥淲e need to utilize every day that we have.鈥�

鈥淲e are not sat back thinking we have all the time in the world 鈥� every day matters,鈥� he said. 鈥漇aying that, we don鈥檛 control a lot of these matters. Often the players, clubs, agents control these matters and the speed of things.鈥�

鈥淲e are well aware of what we need to do but doing it is a whole different matter.鈥�

Ahead of the club鈥檚 final two matches of the year, including the penultimate one against Manchester United tomorrow, Newcastle have been linked with dozens of players just in the last few weeks of the calendar year.

The United head coach has warned previously the media risked unsettling his players with such speculation 鈥� something he could do without in a Premier League relegation battle.

Howe does think there is a common sense way of dealing with the speculation, though.

He said: 鈥淚 have probably seen 1 percent of it. I don鈥檛 follow it all.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to think the players, because there is so much speculation, don鈥檛 give it that much credibility. If I was them, that would be my thought process,鈥� Howe said. 鈥淚f we were to sign every player we've been linked with we鈥檇 have a squad of about 1,000 players, so I think there has to be some kind of realism.鈥�

鈥淧layers just need to concentrate on their own career and their own future, the rest takes care of itself.鈥�