Once a week (mostly) for an hour during the Premier League season, The Athletic’s Newcastle United subscribers can ask our writers covering the club for views and insight into what’s happening at St James’ Park.
Here we have pulled together some of the questions and our answers from Monday’s edition of our Inside Newcastle live Q&A, which included queries about pre-season plans, whether any summer transfers have already been lined up and whether Jason Tindall wants a head-coach role.
Want to ask us anything Newcastle-related? Chris Waugh will be back on Monday at 2pm BST (9am EST) for another session.
What are Newcastle’s post-season and pre-season plans? Will the increased load of Europe be taken into account? — Alec G
Waugh: The increased workload of being in Europe is being taken into account but, as ever with a club which is determined to become globally recognised, there are pressures from multiple departments regarding how the schedule should look.
There will be no repeat of 2024’s controversial post-season tour to Australia. Eddie Howe and many of the players felt that was far-from opportune timing and, following a tiring, bruising campaign, it felt like an inconvenient trip (especially given it was only said to be worth a six-figure sum financially).
Bruno Guimaraes in Melbourne last May – just days after the end of the season (Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
Instead, international players will join up with their countries and the rest will immediately head on holiday. Pre-season training starts in early July and, having reconvened on Tyneside, the squad are set to head to Austria. A return to Germany, where Newcastle visited last season, had been floated, but Austria is the expected destination, with the under-21s set to base themselves there albeit at a different site, so that the two groups can coordinate better.
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Another East Asian tour follows as part of the compromise needed to satisfy the footballing requirements and to continue commercial growth. After Japan last year, Newcastle are heading to Singapore, where they will play Arsenal, and South Korea, for a match against Tottenham and a local team. The trip is lucrative, with the intention to grow the global fanbase.
A friendly in Glasgow against Celtic has been confirmed, while there will be behind-closed-doors games and the now-annual double-header at St James’ Park on the weekend immediately preceding the campaign.
With Paul Mitchell, the sporting director, and James Bunce, the performance director, directly involved in planning this year — neither had arrived when plans had been drawn up for last summer — there has been far greater joined-up thinking. Mitchell and Bunce’s experience of building towards Champions League campaigns will also be vital.
Does a win this week guarantee top five? — D B
Waugh: Mathematically, no (well, it can, but more in a second…) — though in reality, yes.
If Newcastle win at the Emirates, they will leapfrog Arsenal into second and move on to 69 points. Nottingham Forest, in seventh, can only reach 68, while sixth-placed Aston Villa can get a maximum of 69. Villa’s goal difference is +7, while Newcastle’s is +23, so unless there is a highly unlikely swing, 69 points would guarantee fifth.
What’s more, Forest and fifth-placed Chelsea play each other on the final day, so both cannot pick up maximum points.
Villa host Tottenham on Friday, Chelsea are at home to Manchester United on the same day, while Forest are away to West Ham on Sunday afternoon before Newcastle take on Arsenal. Should results go their way — with two of Villa, Chelsea and Forest failing to win — Newcastle could mathematically be guaranteed top five if they do win.
The likelihood is that it will go down to the final day (when Everton arrive), at least mathematically, however.
Do you think any summer transfer business is wrapped up already? Or will we be subject to more Marc Guehi-type sagas? — Peter W
Waugh: Progress has been made in that the priority positions to strengthen have long been determined — centre-half, right-sided forward, striker and goalkeeper — and there have been recruitment meetings over the past fortnight, during which target lists have been narrowed down.
But a final blueprint will not be signed off until Newcastle’s European fate is known. Their potential business will look very different depending on whether they are in the Conference League — which now seems highly unlikely — or the Champions League. The budget will be greater in the Champions League, for a start, but perversely fewer players may be required then; the kitty will likely be focused on a smaller number of quality additions, rather than spread across the squad to add greater depth for the lower-tier European competitions.
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Crystal Palace’s Guehi remains admired at centre-back, Burnley’s James Trafford has long been a goalkeeper target, while Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo are among the right wingers Newcastle have tracked, and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap is a striker they have closely followed. Significant due diligence has taken place on targets across multiple positions.
Forest’s Elanga has been tracked (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
However, if Newcastle reach the Champions League, prices are likely to rise with clubs recognising they will have a greater kitty.
Lessons have been learned from the Guehi pursuit, though, and I do not expect Newcastle to allow a repeat of such a protracted saga.
Given the investment in youth, where are all these youthful superstars? Which of them is near doing anything with the first team, apart from training with the squad? — Kevin D
Waugh: The under-21s are still in training, despite their competitive season being over. They are mirroring the first team’s programme, primarily to bolster senior numbers.
Sean Neave, the 17-year-old forward, and Leo Shahar, the 18-year-old full-back, have been training with the first team almost full-time since February, and have appeared in matchday squads. Neave even has a Carabao Cup winners’ medal, despite never making a first-team appearance.
Trevan Sanusi, the 18-year-old winger, was regularly training with the first team and even made his debut off the bench against Bromley in January, only for injury to curtail his opportunities, though he is back in sessions with the under-21s. He, like Neave and Shahar, will be assessed during pre-season to determine his next steps.
Garang Kuol has been impressive for the second string since recovering from the muscular injury that prevented him from going out on loan last summer, scoring five goals and assisting a further four in 10 Premier League 2 appearances. The 20-year-old is heading into the final year of his deal so may be sold, although there is a chance his contract is extended and he is sent out on loan, with the belief now that he is better suited to thriving during a temporary stint away, unlike his difficult spells at Hearts and Volendam.
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Alfie Harrison, the attacking midfielder, scored three goals and provided seven assists across 20 Premier League 2 appearances and the 19-year-old is likely to go on loan next season. Stylistically, as a player best suited to playing as a No 10, it is difficult to see what his pathway is into Howe’s senior set-up, but he is technically excellent and needs senior experience.
Anything concrete regarding rumours of exits for Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff and Harvey Barnes? Surely rumours of Lewis Miley leaving can’t be true? — Blaise I
Waugh: Newcastle have no intention of selling Miley. Several senior figures have reiterated, publicly and privately, that the 19-year-old is crucial for the long-term future. They want to eventually build the team around Miley, even if the form of Joelinton, Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, and his own injury issues, means that his game time has been limited this season. Miley will be linked with other clubs because he is a supreme talent, but Newcastle are not countenancing losing their academy graduate.
As for Longstaff, that situation is different. The 27-year-old has not started a league match since December 12 and he is about to enter the final 12 months of his contract. Should Newcastle receive a decent offer for the midfielder, he is likely to go — the club exercised an extension in Longstaff’s present deal primarily to protect his value — should he choose to.
Longstaff is likely to leave this summer (George Wood/Getty Images)
Willock and Barnes face uncertain futures. As far as I am aware, Newcastle have not been actively looking to move on either but, given sales will help facilitate the incomings required, should serious interest be shown in Willock or Barnes, there is a chance one or both could leave.
Barnes’ recent run in the team has increased the prospect of him remaining on Tyneside, because a couple of months ago there was an expectation he may look to leave after two years at the club. Willock, meanwhile, has struggled to find his best form this season but, should Longstaff leave, Newcastle would be left short in midfield if he departed.
Why have the club have failed to adhere to their commitment of giving us a decision on stadium and training-ground plans? I felt really disappointed they have opted to focus on possible changes to the badge — Andrew T
Waugh: I understand your frustrations because these are important issues which will affect the club for generations. However, I am not sure Newcastle have focused on possible changes to the badge instead of the stadium or training ground; it is just that the branding element has come first.
Newcastle have frustratingly allowed their own publicly announced timeframe for the stadium decision to be missed. Last July a decision was said to be “imminent”, then in October supporters were told progress would be made by “early 2025”. The season has only two games remaining and, while there are suggestions an announcement of some sort could be made over the summer, it is unclear what that will be. As for the training ground, plans to further expand Benton while an alternative site is identified have been put into motion, which suggests a new state-of-the-art facility remains years away.
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Different departments lead the consultation process on each of these issues and, while the club emblem is rightly important to supporters, it is not deemed as critical to the club’s future performance and growth as the stadium and training ground. Those deliberations are being made at senior-executive and boardroom level, whereas a potential change to the badge is currently being investigated by the brand team.
Is there any chance “Mad Dog” Tindall takes another coaching gig? — Keith K
Waugh: Without completely ruling out an exit at some stage — circumstances can change and a job offer may prove too enticing for Tindall to turn down — there is no expectation of the assistant head coach looking to leave to become a No 1 elsewhere.
Queens Park Rangers were rumoured to be interested in Tindall and, as well as asking Howe in a press conference — when the head coach said it was news to him and he hoped his long-term assistant remained — The Athletic checked out those suggestions with multiple sources, who played down an exit. Clearly, given Tindall’s acumen — he is an elite coach and is not merely the pantomime villain he is portrayed as given his touchline antics — there will be interest in him.
There is no expectation Tindall leaves this summer (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Interestingly, during his temporary stint in charge while Howe was absent with pneumonia, Tindall not only insisted that he did not want to pursue another role as a No 1, but that he did not even want the Bournemouth job in 2020. He claimed that when Howe left, the club came to him and asked if he would take on the position, something he says he was reluctant to do but felt compelled to.
Howe and Tindall have worked together for 17 years and they insist, publicly and privately, that they are a “partnership” who bring the best out of one another. Going solo is not something that Tindall appears to want to do; instead, he seems to relish his role as part of an elite coaching duo who led Newcastle to their first domestic trophy in 70 years and potentially back into the Champions League once more.
(Top photo: Miley, the homegrown midfielder, is not for sale. George Wood/Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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