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What will be on Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United Christmas wish list this year?
It’s Christmas! Whilst everyone is tucking into their turkey dinner and opening presents, Eddie Howe and his Newcastle United side will be preparing for the visit of Aston Villa on Boxing Day. A tough test on paper, but the Magpies have enjoyed a very good recent record against the Villains and will be hoping tomorrow’s clash against the Villains will be more Leicester City in 2022 than 2023 v Nottingham Forest.
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A game away at Old Trafford awaits the Magpies following their meeting with Villa before a trip to face Tottenham Hotspur in London on Saturday 4 January. With such an important end of the year to come before a January that could shape their whole season, Howe will undoubtedly be asking for his wishes to be granted by Father Christmas - but just what could those wishes be? Here, we take a look:
Mistletoe and PSR
Newcastle United’s 2024 has been dominated by PSR, the problems it causes them, potential solutions and how to avoid issues in the future. Sporting director Paul Mitchell will be tasked with finding solutions that will allow the Magpies to spend in January and in summer.
Selling fringe players would unlock a little bit of wiggle room whilst selling one of their gems will allow them to spend greatly. It is a difficult solution that, even with festive hope and joy, there is no magic solution to.
The squad desperately needs to be refreshed with even one or two new faces to give it a different dynamic and to give them an added impetus to push on in their quest to qualify for European competition. Failure to do that again could see wholesale changes in the summer.
Fairytale of New Wembley
The 2024/25 season could still be a hugely memorable one on Tyneside if, and it is a huge if, they are able to finally deliver that piece of silverware. Those dreams could come true in March if they are victorious in a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal to come.
If not, then they will be hoping Saturday 17 May, 2025 is a day that is forever etched in their history. By that time though, the club would have gone over 70 years without a major domestic honour.
Since day one at St James’ Park, Howe has spoken about wanting to be the man to bring a trophy to Tyneside with a number of his squad not shying away from speaking about that in interviews. Bromley and Arsenal will have a lot to say about those dreams, however.
Keep Three Kings
Winning a cup, qualifying for Europe and coming up with a PSR solution would greatly strengthen Newcastle United’s hopes of keeping their three crown jewels. Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak are their most influential players and the club will be doing all they can to keep hold of the trio and build their team around them for years to come.
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