Howe sends transfer "panic" warning as Newcastle "taxed" for Saudi ownership

Eddie Howe is ready to walk away from signing top defensive target Diego Carlos as rivals slap a " Newcastle tax" on deals.

The club have bid £32m for Seville's Brazilian centre back, and believed they had met the asking price.

But that has now been hiked to £40m and the Saudi funded ownership group are set to make a stand and not let their riches be exploited.

There is a feeling that the new price tag is too much for a 29 year old who will have little resale value at the end of his contract.

Howe has warned against "panic" and making a wrong move, as the Toon work down their list of targets which is a "huge list."

Newcastle have seen a series of deals fall through including Lille upping their demands for Dutch defender Sven Botman.

Selling clubs are smelling Newcastle's desperation to rebuild a relegation-threatened squad with funds from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, one of the richest investment vehicles in the world.

But Newcastle do have a budget to stick to and overspending now could reduce their firepower in the less panicky market place this summer when better value will be available.

Howe held a transfer summit with Newcastle owners on Monday at their Jeddah training camp, to review the state of play on their multi player transfer plan.

A deal to sign Jesse Lingard is still being discussed and could involve a hefty £5m loan fee as a compromise to Manchester United wanting to sell the player. West Ham are also interested.

Atalanta's £30m striker Duvan Zapata is interested in switching to Tyneside and a deal is being explored.

Newcastle also want a new left back, with Mitchel Bakker of Leverkusen and Mikola Milenkovic of Fioretina wanted.

Brighton 's Yves Bissouma is also top of their list of holding midfielders but would cost £50m. A loan for Dele Alli is also a possibility.

Newcastle's search for fresh impetus is likely to go to the wire on deadline day, with selling clubs forced back to the negotiating table over the weekend if they want to take the Geordie cash.

So far they have landed Kieran Trippier for £12m and Chris Wood for £25m, after triggering his release clause. Both share the same agent.

The club, led by Amanda Staveley, face a difficult balancing act in improving their line up and are urging patience from fans.

They are under pressure to seal a deal abroad, or with Lingard, quickly, but want to be judged next week when the window is closed in what promises to be a frantic finale to January.

Howe explained: ""We're looking at all alternative targets. Please don't think I'm sat there with a list of one player and that's the only player that we would go for.

"We're looking at a huge list of names but even when the list is big, it still doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to get one of those players over the line because you've got to remember this is, in my opinion, the best league in the world.

"The number of players that can come in and make your team better makes it a very small pond that we're fishing in with the availability issues that we'll have in this window compared to the summer. I think that's what people have to understand."

"The transfer window and the hype that is created around it sometimes is bigger than the actual reality. You just need to keep everything into perspective.

"In some cases you can bid whatever you want and the player isn't for sale. Sometimes money isn't the issue here.

"Talk about panic is an absolutely valid question in the sense that sometimes, if you dip below the line in terms of a player who you think can improve the group and then end up with someone that hasn't, you're in a worse position than when you started. That's the crucial thing for us to remember at all times."