Eddie Howe's squad return for the start of the 2025-26 campaign this week
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe will welcome his players back for pre-season
It feels like a long time since the final whistle blew at St James' Park on the last day of the season and those Champions League celebrations kicked in.
But for the Newcastle United squad, preparations for the 2025-26 campaign will start in earnest this week as pre-season training gets under way.
The Magpies stars are expected to return to their Benton training base early next week, with the first series of fitness tests taken before the training on the grass can begin.
As yet, there will be no new faces reporting for duty, but that could soon change with deals for James Trafford and Anthony Elanga said to be close.
But for now, Eddie Howe and his coaching team will have a familiar group of players to work with in the early stages of pre-season. United don't have long until their first friendly of the summer, with a match against Celtic in Glasgow on July 19 now less than two weeks away.
That will be followed by a trip to Singapore to face Arsenal, then two games in South Korea against Tottenham and a K-League All-Stars side.
However, it won't be a full squad which reports in for those gruelling first days of training, with several stars given extra time off after international duty.
International stars
As always, Newcastle had several players on duty for their countries in the June internationals. With no senior summer tournament, it's not expected that their return will be significantly later than their team-mates, but given they continued to play several weeks after the domestic season ended, they will be granted more recovery time.
Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Martin Dubravka and Odysseas Vlachodimos were all called up to their national squads in June, with only goalkeeper Vlachodimos not selected for action.
They return will come a little later, but it is not expected to be as delayed as previous summers.
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Under-21 heroes
It's been some summer for Tino Livramento, with the defender a key man as England retained the U21 EUROs in Slovakia. Livramento was an important man in Lee Carsley's squad, and with the final against Germany taking place on June 28, the 22-year-old will be given much longer downtime.
The same goes for Will Osula who impressed with Denmark in the tournament. Their campaign ended against France on June 22 and the young forward will rejoin his Newcastle team-mates in the coming weeks.
Tino Livramento of England with the UEFA European Under-21 Championship trophy
Tino Livramento enjoyed a successful summer with England U21s
Potential delays
Three notable figures ended the season with injury issues, alhough all three are expected to play a role in pre-season and be fit for the start of the new campaign.
Alexander Isak played the final match against Everton despite reporting a groin problem, but then didn't link up with the Sweden squad in June. He is expected to have recovered but whether he is eased back into training remains to be seen.
Brazilian midfielder Joelintonshould be able to play a full role following a knee problem, and should be part of the squad that travels to Celtic later this month.
Lewis Hall has not played since February with a foot injury, but is now training back on the grass and will follow a bespoke recovery plan, with a view to being involved at some stage over the summer.
Young midfielder Lewis Miley had to pull out of the U19 EUROs through injury and will continue his recovery before joining in with pre-season.
Alexander Isak did not feature for Sweden in June
Alexander Isak did not feature for Sweden in June
Out of contract
While there has been no confirmation about Callum Wilson's status since his contract expired, the 'former' United No 9 is currently working for DAZN covering the Club World Cup. John Ruddy is yet to sign a new deal and is technically no longer a Newcastle player.
Who will be there?
That leaves the rest of the squad essentially. Expect to see Sven Botman, Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krafth, Matt Targett, Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy, along with youngsters Sean Neave and Leo Shahar and returning loanees Harrison Ashby and Joe White.