Students of the Kremlinology surrounding the inner workings of Newcastle United will appreciate that Steve McClaren has won a very significant battle. Unlike Alan Pardew, he has finally convinced Mike Ashley that a heavily Francophone squad requires reinforcement with British players.

Andros Townsend joins Newcastle for £12m from Tottenham Hotspur Read more

This month’s £12m arrival of Jonjo Shelvey from Swansea City and Andros Townsend from Tottenham Hotspur for the same sum are proof of a hard-won victory but now the manager needs to win the wider war.

If Newcastle are to harbour realistic hopes of avoiding relegation, McClaren must ensure the owner sanctions the purchase of a stellar striker and, ideally, a defender or two before the transfer window closes on Monday. Should a goalscorer fail to arrive Newcastle will resemble an ostensibly attractive family home that, behind an enviable facade, fails to function properly because of a lack of basic kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Ashley is said to have intervened personally in the Townsend deal, abandoning his supposed hands-off position and giving Lee Charnley, the club’s managing director, a bit of help by negotiating with Daniel Levy, Tottenham’s chairman, directly.

With the impasse broken and a £12m “compromise” fee agreed, the winger was soon Tyneside-bound but, if a prolific striker is shortly to be connecting with his crosses, Ashley may need to get involved once more. Just as it would have been fascinating to have been a fly on the wall during negotiations involving the sports retail tycoon and Levy, Newcastle’s owner v Jeremy Peace, West Bromwich Albion’s chairman, would surely be equally intriguing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Loïc Rémy, left, scoring here for Chelsea against Leicester, did quite well in a previous spell at Newcastle, on loan in 2013-14. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

McClaren wants to sign Saido Berahino but with West Brom holding out for £30m there is a £10m gap in their valuations. Chelsea’s Loïc Rémy, who did quite well during a short stint at Newcastle under Pardew, appears the back-up option. He would almost certainly arrive on loan and, like Shelvey and Townsend, would need no time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League. That said, Townsend has not played a full game in the top tier for almost two years.

Time is a key issue here. Newcastle are running out of it and, despite some decent approach play, have won only one of their past seven league games. Without a finisher, the £40m plus spent last summer and the near £30m invested during this window – when the midfielder Henri Saivet has also arrived from Bordeaux – will probably not be sufficient to insulate them from the financially calamitous effects of dropping into the Championship.

With Aleksandar Mitrovic unable to outpace defenders and less than clinical in front of goal, and Papiss Cissé injured, the creative work supplied by Gini Wijnaldum, Moussa Sissoko and Ayoze Pérez is largely going to waste.

Whereas Bournemouth, a relegation rival, moved fast to invest around £17m in the strikers Benik Afobe and Lewis Grabban this month, Newcastle have played a longer game.

The only problem is this has limited their potential for collecting Premier League points. In the three games Afobe has played for Eddie Howe’s side he has scored two goals.

McClaren was extremely keen on Charlie Austin but his board was apparently worried about one of the forward’s knees – Austin has strongly denied he is hampered by a knee problem – and Southampton proved more appealing. Austin, of course, scored on his debut against Manchester United last weekend. Newcastle’s manager, defeated at Watford, would not have relished that news snippet from Old Trafford. A few days ago a long-mooted move for Lyon’s France forward Alexandre Lacazette remained a vague possibility but that seems to have collapsed.

In truth, it always looked a little ambitious and, as the games have come and gone and no striker has arrived, it seems Ashley is taking one of his beloved high-stakes gambles on being able to force through a last-minute deal. There is also a sense he would like to recoup some money before spending again.

Cheik Tioté has turned down a move to Shanghai and is talking to other suitors from China; McClaren could do with him saying yes to one of them. Florian Thauvin, who could be heading back to the Stade Vélodrome on loan, has been a £13m flop on the wing since his summer move from Marseille and Ashley will not be thrilled to face the prospect of writing off that chunk of cash. By way of compensation he had hoped fringe players such as Yoan Gouffran may be departing but, so far, there seems no stampede for the exits.

If acquiring a goalscorer remains imperative, this penchant for buying wingers fails to camouflage the squad’s structural imbalance. Part of the reason Newcastle lost at Watford was that McClaren was forced to field a new system, a back five, featuring the winger Rolando Aarons at left wing-back. With Paul Dummett, Massadio Haïdara and Jack Colback injured there was no one available to play at left-back. Although Dummett usually fills that role he is really a centre-half, and Colback is a midfielder. In hindsight selling Davide Santon to Internazionale this time last year was not really that smart a move.

With a lack of cover for Daryl Janmaat at right-back and the central defensive deputies for Fabricio Coloccini and Chancel Mbemba not entirely convincing – although the newly fit Steven Taylor has the potential to do well if he can steer clear of further injuries – there is a strong case for strengthening the backline too.

It was only a behind-closed-doors friendly but Newcastle’s 6-0 defeat at Sunderland on Wednesday afternoon in a controversial practice match hardly screamed defensive stability.

McClaren, a pragmatist, would probably be content to make do and mend with that rearguard so long as he can shake Rémy’s (or, in his happiest dreams, Berahino’s) hand by Monday evening. But will he get his man?