It’s not just incoming transfers that are a problem on Tyneside; all the noise around the club suggests they are about to witness a mass exodus of their biggest and best players. Speaking ahead of the Bournemouth game, Howe seemed to admit as much, saying: “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. 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 (term 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 and say, ‘this will happen’ or ‘that will happen’. It’s been impossible in every window I’ve ever managed because the moving forces in football are so difficult to predict.”
Those words will have done little to lift the gloom around St. James’ Park, and questions will be asked of the commitment of those wantaway stars as their season winds down. Howe tellingly paused for seven seconds when asked whether his squad shared that “fire” he had previously spoken about in his post-match press conference on Saturday.
The players he is referring to are most likely Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Tino Livramento and Anthony Gordon, while Kieran Trippier’s exit has already been confirmed as he enters the final few months of his contract, and long-serving defender Fabian Schar could follow suit. Remarkably, it’s been reported that Woltemade or Wissa could be moved on after just one seasontoo.
Tonali has been strongly linked with Arsenal and Manchester United for monthswhile Guimaraes is supposedly a target for the latter and is known to be greatly admired by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola; Livramento, too, is on the Gunners’ and City’s radars and is likely to be allowed to leave.
Gordon, meanwhile, is the latest big-name Newcastle player to generate serious speculation of an impending exit, with Bayern Munich supposedly keen to have the £75m-rated ($101m) England winger competing with Luis Diaz on their left flank, and the 25-year-old is said to be open to leaving. At this early stage, Woltemade has only been loosely linked with a switch to Bayern Munich or Chelsea.
