Newcastle report back for pre-season on Monday with a squad that already looks different from the one that finished last season. Eight players have left since May, three new signings are in the building, and Eddie Howe is already juggling delayed returns and injuries before the first session is done.
The squad reset already underway
The clearest sign of the reset is the turnover. Eight players from last season's squad have gone since the final game in May, which is a sizeable change before a ball has even been kicked in training. Newcastle also finished 12th in the Premier League with 49 points, and their final five league results were uneven enough to leave no real sense of a settled group carrying momentum into summer.
The arrivals tell their own story. Ewen Jaouen has come in from Reims, while Bazoumana Toure and Sean Steur are also through the door. That is enough activity to change the tone of the first week back, even before any serious tactical work begins.
Delayed returns and the first fixtures
There are absences too. Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley are not expected to take part in the opening training session because they are continuing to recover from injury. Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Kieran Trippier are all mentioned in the wider squad picture, but the bigger issue for Howe is simply having a full group together in time for the work ahead.
The schedule is tight. Newcastle start their pre-season fixtures with a behind closed doors match against Darlington next weekend, then go on to games against Gateshead and Bristol City. After that comes a week-long training camp in La Manga, ending with a friendly against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium.
That is a busy opening stretch, and it suits a squad that needs repetition as much as anything else. The summer has already changed the group before training has properly started, and the first few fixtures will give Howe a quick read on how much of the old structure is still there.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →