A big summer is planned at Newcastle United and Eddie Howe is braced for some departures
Newcastle United Head Coach Eddie Howe speaks to players in training
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe speaks to players in training(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
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Eddie Howe admits that some players will be leaving St James' Park this summer after offering no guarantees on Anthony Gordon's future.
The Scouser has not handed in a transfer request and isn't pushing for a move, but there is an acceptance behind the scenes he might go as Newcastle look to wheel and deal this summer. Gordon is on Bayern Munich's wish-list but has past interest from Arsenal and Liverpool too.
Kieran Trippier has already ended speculation on his own future by announcing this season will be his last on Tyneside. But other squad men like Fabian Schar, Emil Krafth, John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie will also be out of contract.
When asked on players leaving St James' Park, Howe said "There’s a few players out of contract and you’ve got some big players who have done amazing things for the club maybe entering their final few months of their time here.
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"You’ve got possibly players leaving in the summer and that natural evolution on that side, which happens at a football club. So, I can understand why the ‘end of a cycle’ might be used.
"What that looks like is unknown. It’s always unknown. It’s almost impossible to predict a summer transfer window.”
Howe could only have been referring to players like Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Tino Livramento and Bruno Guimaraes in terms of those who could be entering the end of their Toon careers.
All four could yet stay, but CEO David Hopkinson has made it clear that smart trading will be vital if Newcastle are to rebuild. What is clear is that Newcastle will be more organised than last summer.
They waited until the final few days of the window to replace Alexander Isak with Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, and neither have been a complete success story for varying reasons. Howe stated on Sunday, after the defeat at Crystal Palace, that he does not pick his team based on transfer fees in an extraordinary answer to a question from Chronicle Live on the duo's lack of minutes.
When asked about last summer's reactive window, Howe said: "I agree that last summer we were reactive, through no one’s fault. With the way the window went, we always felt we were on the back foot, catching up to a degree.
"That’s why it was such a difficult summer, which fell into a very difficult early season for us. In terms of this summer, it’s difficult to know.
"My role in it will be identifying players to sign, but as we found last year, that’s no guarantee you’re going to get them.
"Then of course you have to change and try to find other options. Hopefully, we’re not doing that too often, otherwise you tend to lose the quality of the first targets.
"A lot of that comes down to your planning and organisation behind the scenes, and now of course that’s a lot stronger than it was last year. The appointments we’ve had will hopefully put us in a much better position to execute everything that we need to."