Magpies have a Wander-ful squad and boss - Bruno
BRUNO Lage has lauded Newcastle United for the way they have strengthened their squad over the space of just eight months.
The Wolves boss was also full of praise for his United counterpart Eddie Howe and has warned his side they must be ready for a ‘strong’ opponent when the two teams clash today at Molineux.
Without a Premier League win this season, Lage will hope for a repeat of last season’s clash in the Midlands, when Wanderers won 2-1 in what turned out to be the final game of the Mike Ashley era.
A Saudi-backed consortium completed a £300million takeover within a week of that result, the Magpies undergoing a transformation since.
Howe replaced Steve Bruce as head coach in November and, boosted by an influx of talent in January, the club went from relegation candidates to 11th in the table - finishing just two points behind 10thplaced Wolves, whom they beat 1-0 at St James’ Park.
Since then, Newcastle have taken their transfer spend for the calendar year to more than £200million, making them a far more dangerous proposition in Lage’s eyes.
He said: “I expect a strong game, like the previous two we played against them.
“Also, when you look for the kinds of players Newcastle buy, not just now but in January, you can see the strong team they are.
“The manager is an experienced manager who knows everything about the Premier League, so that’s the challenge.
“That’s why we are here, to compete against the strong teams like Newcastle.”
United completed a deal to sign Sweden international Alexander Isak for a club-record fee of £58million from Real Sociedad this week, strengthening their attack.
Lage has not been so financially fortunate and admitted Wolves need more firepower as he looks to beat the transfer deadline.
Wolves have been linked with Stuttgart forward Sasa Kalajdzic ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
They have already broken their transfer record this summer, buying midfielder Matheus Nunes in a £38million deal from Sporting Lisbon.