Several Newcastle players are into the final year of their deals and will be available to leave on a free transfer next summer if they fail to agree a new deal. Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson, Fabian Schar, Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Martin Dubravka, Jamaal Lascelles and Emil Krafth are among the players whose current contracts are set to expire at the end of the season.
Goalkeeping duo Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy also have deals that expire in June 2025.
When asked for an update on the new contract discussions, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe stressed the importance of securing the futures of key players.
“I’m slightly detached from that so I can’t give you any detail but it’s something that is always on the club’s mind in terms of making sure we protect the long-term interests of the club with player’s contracts and avoid difficult situations so that work is always ongoing,” Howe said.
Of the first-team players out of contract at the end of the season, Sean Longstaff is the only player under the age of 30 and an academy graduate. With Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules also of pressing importance and favouring club sales of academy players, securing Longstaff to a new deal will make business sense for the club.
And Howe wants to resolve the contract situations in his squad before the final months of the campaign.
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“I think talking more broadly, going to Joelinton’s situation when his contract was getting to a delicate time,” Howe told The Gazette. “Losing players to free transfers is not something we want to be fighting as a football club for many different reasons.
“Probably the biggest reason for that is that it’s a distraction for the players and, in my experience, players don’t tend to play well when they start to run their contract down into that last year, it’s a very uncertain time for them.
“We want players at their best but we want to protect the asset value of the individual player as well. To replace any player that is in and around our squad is going to cost us a lot of money so we’ve got to be very careful with those decisions.”
Having secured Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton to long-term contracts last season, Newcastle are looking to offer new deals to key players like Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak following summer transfer speculation.
“I think that if there are issues with either player, or any player, then of course communication and resolving any issues is really important,” Howe added.
“I think having your players secure in their futures is key to their performances. You don’t want the transfer speculation or the contracts potentially running into shorter terms because I think that it distracts and rarely benefits the player or the club.
“So, my wish is that players are always focused on their performances and that the outside distraction is minimal.
Our best way to do that is to get them secure and happy but of course,i there is a balance because with wage structures and PSR we can’t be reckless with what we do either.
“So we have to get those calls right but, of course, getting those players to play at their best levels will have a dramatic effect on our season.”
