Newcastle United will take their place in the Champions League once again next season after securing a top five finish in this season’s Premier League table.
A second-half goal from Toffees midfielder Carlos Alcaraz condemned the Magpies to a defeat that could have cost them a place in European football’s elite - but their top five spot was guaranteed as goals from former Sunderland loan star Amad Diallo and Christian Eriksen helped Manchester United to a 2-0 home win against Aston Villa.
The Magpies struggled to find the intensity and rhythm that have become the hallmarks of their most impressive performances this season as a David Moyes-led Everton side produced a hardworking and disciplined display their first win at St James Park since December 2019.
For large parts of the contest, United were unable to find fluency in key areas and rarely troubled their visitors. Chances were at a premium as Sandro Tonali and Alexander Isak forced saved out of former Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford during the opening 45 minutes and Fabian Schar and Kieran Tripper came close after the interval. However, it was Alcaraz’s goal that separated the two sides at full-time as nerves enveloped the vast majority of those in St James Park.
News eventually filtered through that Manchester United held on to see off Villa and ensured Newcastle will take their place in the Champions League for the second time during Howe’s reign. With the riches on offer at European football’s top table, Howe will hope to add further quality to his ranks ahead of another challenging campaign - and the Magpies boss is hopeful his summer transfer activity can get underway as soon as possible.
He said: “The power of the Champions League and the pull of the Champions League is huge. We can’t get away from that. The excitement this will bring the people here, and of course it’s a selling point for us now, it’s an opportunity to sell that dream to future players that might be considering coming to us. As I said, we have to get the financials right, we have to get the other aspects of trying to sign a player right. Hopefully, we can do that.”
Howe continued: “Speed is key for us and I have reiterated that many times internally. Speed is key because we have to be dynamic, we have to be ready to conclude things very quickly because good players don’t hang around for long. That’s always been my thought and my message on recruitment really because you can have a period when you think you have time - but then you look around quickly and you see that time has elapsed and you missed opportunities you won’t get again. That’s what we will be trying but the reality of that is it’s not always in your hands - but we will do our best to do things early.”
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