John Anderson: “You’d think that first and foremost Chris will look to build around the basis of the current squad. I’m thinking of Harper, Nolan, Andy Carroll and, hopefully, Steven Taylor.
“I’m not sure if the kids that have been touted are ready yet – I think they may need another season before they can be classed as first-team material.
“So I don’t think he’ll turn to the youngsters unless it’s forced upon him.
“But he may well turn to the loan market, and that’s something I’d endorse.
“We’ve already heard about the lad Cleverley at Manchester United and Wilshere at Arsenal.
“I’d love to see them here.
“He’s got a good chance of getting them too because if you were to ask Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger where is the best place to play outside the top four, surely in front of 50,000 fans at St James’ Park is the place – it’s easy to sell.
“I think top-flight managers would see it as a great advantage to allow their best youngsters to come here and play for us next season.
“One other way of bringing in players is by generating your own transfer kitty, but if you look at the saleable assets of the team they will only lessen the squad.
“The likes of Carroll and Taylor have prices on their head, but they will be vital players for the squad.
“Fabricio Coloccini would be one who would be difficult to move on because his wages are sky high.
“Perhaps one way of doing it would be to sell Jonas Gutierrez if he has a good World Cup, but then the money would have to be ploughed back in and made available to spend.
“Jose Enrique would be another option if they went down that road, but he’s the only left-back and could they bring in somebody better?
“From my point of view, we need a proven striker in the Premier League.
“Andy Carroll is a great young player but you need experience as well.
“Chances in front of goal don’t come around as frequently as the Championship and that could be a stumbling block.
“You’d say a midfielder again to bolster the side with experience but everybody is after that.
“And then you have the defence which at the moment would be Steven Taylor and Coloccini with Danny Simpson, who I think Chris will stick with, and Jose Enrique.
“Is there enough quality to cover them? We’ll have to see.”