‘Riches are no guarantee of Prem survival’

NORWICH head coach Dean Smith has warned that no club should expect to buy their way out of the relegation zone in January.

The Canaries sit 19th and travel to bottom side Newcastle on Tuesday night, where victory could see them close up on the sides above them and boost their own survival hopes.

Following Newcastle’s takeover from a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, it is expected manager Eddie Howe will be given plenty of funds to strengthen the squad when the transfer window opens again.

While at Aston Villa, Smith oversaw a major summer outlay following the £100-million sale of key man Jack Grealish to Manchester City, bringing in Danny Ings, Leon Bailey and also Norwich’s star playmaker Emi Buendia.

However, just that investment alone was not able to immediately push Villa up towards the European places, with Smith eventually dismissed last month on the back of five straight Premier League defeats before making a swift return to the dugout at Carrow Road.

Smith – who replaced Daniel Farke and has picked up four points from his opening two matches in charge – knows there can be no quick fix in the search for success at either end of the table.

“It is always difficult to think you can buy your way out of any position or into any position,” said Smith.

“You bring players into a squad and first of all, they have to go and settle in, there is an integration that they have to go get settled into.

“Certainly if they are not Britishbased players or tasted the Premier League before, there is a newness about everything.

“The Premier League as we all know is a very talented league and every club gives you a challenge, so it is very difficult to buy a place in the top six or out of the bottom three.”

Smith, though, accepts Newcastle will have the financial muscle to push through deals which might not be possible for other clubs.

“January has always been a difficult window for any team,” he said.

“Prices are over-inflated – but that probably doesn’t matter to Newcastle if they have the riches we are told they have got.

“They have six or seven games before that anyway.”