Charlie Austin to Newcastle: QPR striker still transfer target – Steve McClaren

Newcastle United are set to reconsider a move for Queens Park Rangers star Charlie Austin this January, according to reports from the Daily Mail.

Austin was strongly linked with a £15million transfer away from Loftus Road this summer after QPR suffered relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season, with a host of clubs – including Newcastle – thought to be interested in the forward.

United conceded 63 goals in the Premier League last season, the second-highest in the division, and McClaren knew upon taking charge that this was a statistic that needed rectifying instantly.

Asked about Newcastle’s hard start, which has included two sendings off and tough games, leaving them in the bottom three, McClaren said: “At this present moment, I am not targeting anything at all, other than trying to get this team to play how I want the team to play”.

“We are not there yet”.

McClaren told The Chronicle: “I think that when I first came through the door I looked at 63 goals and I thought: ‘That’s far too many and we’re going to be in trouble if we do that”.

For now Newcastle must rely on Papiss Cisse, Ayoze Perez and the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic to lead the front line.

The Senegal striker was targeted by clubs in the United Arab Emirates over the summer, but McClaren was never keen on selling.

“There was a lot of speculation about Papiss”, he added.

“From day one”, said McClaren.

Steve McClaren says that he has no intention of allowing any more Newcastle players to go out on loan, at least for the time being.

“We have got a good squad, a strong squad, and we have got motivation – they can see a game ahead and they also see the team is not established yet. He’s kind of thrown it all over to Lee”.