Middlesbrough's Hayden Hackney and Delano Burgzorg, Sunderland's Noah Sadiki and Newcastle's Dan Burn (Image: Newsquest)
Middlesbrough's Hayden Hackney and Delano Burgzorg, Sunderland's Noah Sadiki and Newcastle's Dan Burn (Image: Newsquest)
HERE'S Wednesday's round-up of the latest news from Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and Sunderland:
NEWCASTLE BOOST
It's a huge night for Newcastle in the Champions League, with the Magpies knowing a win against PSV will secure a play-off place and mean they had for France to play PSV in their last game with automatic qualification at stake.
Lose tonight and that PSG game is an all together different challenge.
Dan Burn won't be involved for the Magpies tonight but he is back in training, which Eddie Howe admits is a huge boost. The same can be said of Will Osula.
“Dan is making really good progress,” said the Magpies boss. “We anticipated the journey back that he’s had, and he’s pretty much stuck to the timelines we expected. He won’t make tomorrow, it’s too early. It’s the same with Will Osula – today was their first day with the team. But hopefully they’re not too far away.
“They will feel like new signings for us, especially Dan because there’s a real positional need there. That’s not a slight on Will at all, we’re delighted to have him back in training and he’s going to be a big player for us, but Dan’s return, with being so light in that position, is a huge lift. If we can keep him fit and feeling good, he will be like a new signing.”
There's plenty more from Howe as he looks ahead to tonight's game HERE, and we also spoke to Sven Botman ahead of the game. That's HERE.
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MANCHESTER UNITED SENT TRANSFER MESSAGE
Kim Hellberg unsurprisingly faced questions about Hayden Hackney in his Boro press conference yesterday.
Hackney has been linked with Manchester United, speculation which always felt likely after Michael Carrick took charge at Old Trafford.
Whether there's any concrete interest from United this month is not known, but Hellberg couldn't have been much clearer on Hackney's future.
"I don't think he's going anywhere," said Boro's boss.
"I think he wants to stay here, you can see he is very, very happy."
There's plenty more HERE from Hellberg, who was on fine form in his press conference.
He talked at length about his love for Tommy Conway - that's HERE - and also provided an injury update ahead of tonight's Championship game at Stoke City HERE.
If you missed it yesterday, we also brought you the news that Boro have decided to keep Delano Burgzorg this month, and are looking elsewhere in their bid to strengthen their attack after being unable to come to an agreement with Brighton over Jeremy Sarmiento. That's explained HERE.
SUNDERLAND'S STRONG SADIKI STANCE
Another midfielder Manchester United have been linked with this month is Sunderland's Noah Sadiki.
But the Black Cats have absolutely no intention of selling their midfielder this month.
There have been suggestions that the Old Trafford hierarchy are willing to include Manuel Ugarte in a possible deal for the Sunderland midfielder, with PSR considerations meaning a cash-plus-player deal would be more attractive to Manchester United than a straight purchase.
It doesn’t matter what offer is placed on the table this month, though, as Sunderland’s executive team are adamant Sadiki will not be going anywhere.
HERE'S the full story on that one.