The Premier League have confirmed six contract extensions for Newcastle United players ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Newcastle’s retained list was published last week, which confirmed that Jamal Lewis, Callum Wilson and John Ruddy were out of contract at the end of the month. Lewis is set to leave Newcastle as a free agent and Wilson and Ruddy could well follow, though the club have confirmed talks are ongoing over potential new deals for the pair.
Newcastle’s retained list added that all other first-team players were under contract for the 2025/26 season with Mark Gillespie agreeing a one-year contract extension.
Premier League confirm Newcastle United striker & goalkeeper contract
While Gillespie’s extension was named by the club in its retained list, Newcastle also extended the contracts of young striker Ben Parkinson, goalkeeper Max Thompson, winger Darren Palmer and defenders Ciaran Thompson and Cathal Heffernan.
Parkinson is the only player of the six with Premier League experience for Newcastle under his belt after he came on as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat at AFC Bournemouth back in 2023. It remains the 20-year-old’s only competitive first-team appearance for Newcastle.
Despite an injury-hit 2024/25 season, Parkinson still ended the campaign with 12 goals in 16 appearances across all competitions at Under-21s level.
Goalkeeper Thompson has not made a senior appearance for Newcastle but returns to the club with new deal following a promising loan spell at Chesterfield in League Two. The 20-year-old is approaching half a century of senior appearances having spent time at Northampton Town prior to joining Chesterfield last summer.
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Heffernan is highly rated at academy level having joined from AC Milan in 2023. The Irish defender captained Newcastle’s Under-21s side for the 2024/25 season.
While he is yet to feature for Newcastle in a competitive first-team match, he has featured in the friendly games against SpVgg Unterhaching and Urawa Red Diamonds last summer.
Ciaran Thompson has often partnered Heffernan in defence at Under-21s level and featured for the first team in the post-season friendlies against Tottenham Hotspur and A-League All Stars last year.
Newcastle United contract uncertainty surrounding Callum Wilson & John Ruddy
While the past week has cleared up plenty on the contract front at Newcastle, there are still question marks over the futures of Wilson and Ruddy. The Premier League has listed both players as ‘free transfers’ this summer as they are out of contract on June 30 as things stand.
Wilson has attracted interest from Premier League newcomers Leeds United who will be looking for some additional firepower in their bid for survival. Wilson will be looking to get back to his best form after being limited to just two Premier League starts for Newcastle during the 2024/25 season, his only goal for the club came in the 3-2 FA Cup fourth round win at Birmingham City back in February.
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