Steve Bruce has offered an insight into Newcastle United's strategy, as reported by The Chronicle.

What did he say?

The January transfer window may have passed, but transfers are still on the tip of tongues throughout the Premier League.

That is no different with the Magpies and Bruce has been speaking about what they look for in a possible recruit, offering examples to highlight that.

As quoted by The Chronicle, he said: "Rose and Bentaleb couldn’t wait to get here, for obvious reasons for both of them. Bentaleb because there had been a change in manager and he suddenly wasn’t playing, same for Rose. Lazaro took a bit of time because we had to beat off teams like RB Leipzig who are top of the Bundesliga.

"He wanted to play in the PL which helped, but we had a bit of work to do. All of them, for some reason, have something to prove and have all to play for.

“We want hungry players. One of the better players this season has been Jetro [Willems] on loan and he had a point to prove."

A point to prove

Bringing in players such as these, who have a point to prove, can be very useful for Bruce's side as it may create a siege mentality amongst the squad.

This is especially telling with Newcastle due to their defensive style of play, having maintained an average of just 39.4% of possession across Premier League games, before facing Arsenal on Saturday.

The mentality hinted at by Bruce is especially epitomised by Bentaleb, as the Algeria international had not made a single appearance for Schalke, before moving to St James' Park until the end of the season in January.

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Rose also had issues with getting on the pitch, as after Jose Mourinho's arrival at Tottenham Hotspur, the 29-year-old only managed 100 minutes in the league, from a possible 1080.

While they cannot solely rely on players who have been shunned by other clubs, this is seemingly working out for Bruce, as they went into the weekend's action 12th in the league.

Meanwhile, Newcastle fans react to their transfer link.