Once a week for an hour during the Premier League season, The Athletic’s Newcastle United subscribers have the opportunity to ask us for our views and insight into what’s happening at their club.
Here, we have pulled together some of their questions and our answers from Monday’s edition of our Inside Newcastle live Q&A, which included queries about a new CEO, Miguel Almiron’s curious squad status, Kieran Trippier’s future and January transfer plans.
Want to ask a question on anything Newcastle-related? Chris Waugh will be back on Monday at 2pm BST (9am ET) for another session…
Do you have any steer about the type of CEO they’re looking to replace Darren Eales with? — Rob D
Chris Waugh: The process is very much in its infancy, with the news of Eales being diagnosed with a chronic form of blood cancer coming as a shock to everyone at the club. Eales had been the face of the summer restructure and had been heavily involved in the decision making that led to Paul Mitchell’s arrival as sporting director and the change of personnel at the top, so his departure will be felt.
Despite his illness, Eales insists that, for now, he is able to work his notice period before any treatment begins. That means Newcastle will not rush into appointing his successor and the expectation is that, as with previous executive appointments — Dan Ashworth, Mitchell and Eales himself — the club will take their time and conduct an exhaustive recruitment process. An external firm may be commissioned to lead the early parts of the search.
The early noises are that Newcastle are looking for a CEO who can establish the club as part of the English and European elite. During Eales’ tenure, in little more than two years Newcastle have gone from relegation fodder to a Champions League side for a season, while they have also seen rapid commercial growth. But, to really compete regularly, every area of the club still needs to be elevated further to “best in the class”, as they describe it internally.
When Eales was appointed, Newcastle wanted a non-traditional Premier League CEO; someone who would come in with an open mind and provide an alternative outlook as to how they could grow as a club. Whether they are still looking for a similar profile of CEO remains to be seen, as the feeling is that, just as Mitchell provides a different skill set to Ashworth as sporting director, perhaps Newcastle need an alternative type of chief executive.
For now, everyone at the club is looking to ensure Eales is fit and able to carry out his duties, with his long-term health the paramount consideration.
Which academy player is closest to making his Newcastle debut this season? — Dmitry K
Waugh: Charlie McArthur, the 19-year-old defender, Leo Shahar, the 17-year-old right-back, and Cathal Heffernan, the 19-year-old centre-back, have all impressed Newcastle’s first-team coaching staff.
However, Trevan Sanusi is the academy product who is generating the most excitement right now, having thrilled the St James’ Park crowd when appearing against Girona and Brest in pre-season. The 17-year-old winger has been fast-tracked into the first-team set-up, intermittently training with Howe’s squad across the past six months.
Stylistically, given he is technically excellent and is a skilful dribbler, obvious comparisons have been drawn with Allan Saint-Maximin. At the moment, Sanusi can frustrate and excel in equal measure, just as Saint-Maximin was renowned for, and he is still raw, but Newcastle believe he has unique attacking capabilities.
Given he is an inverted left winger who likes to cut in on his right, Sanusi faces a stiff challenge to usurp Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes for that position. Yet, with Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron struggling to nail down a starting place on the right, perhaps Sanusi could gain an opportunity if injuries afflict the first-team squad.
How many changes are you expecting for AFC Wimbledon? I’m keen to see William Osula play — Mark R
Waugh: Howe made six changes for the previous round at Nottingham Forest and I expect to see at least as many — and potentially more, given Wimbledon are League Two opposition and the game is at St James’.
Due to Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson’s respective injuries, which are likely to keep both out until after the upcoming international break, it is likely Osula will make his full Newcastle debut. Gordon is set to continue as centre-forward at Everton on Saturday and, given he is almost certain to feature for England next week, protecting the 23-year-old by fielding Osula against Wimbledon makes sense.
The 21-year-old is extremely raw and Howe always expected that he would gradually integrate the Danish Under-21 international into his first-team set-up. But Osula is 6ft 4in, quick, physical and has what Howe describes as the “raw ingredients” to be a genuine success. Unleashing him against fourth-tier opposition at home feels like an ideal opportunity, especially as Howe can field experienced players around him.
Almiron, Emil Krafth, Lloyd Kelly, Tino Livramento, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock are also likely to be handed starts, though the goalkeeper selection will be particularly interesting. Martin Dubravka may make his first appearance of the season, after Nick Pope retained his place at the City Ground.
What do you think about the sympathy for Almiron and a clamour for more minutes? While it’s harsh, I’m delighted he’s not playing much — Michael R
Waugh: Almiron’s lack of game time — just two substitute appearances in the league, totalling three minutes — has come as a surprise in many ways. The 30-year-old made 23 starts last season and 29 in 2022-23, when he scored 11 goals and helped Newcastle to finish fourth.
However, the Paraguay international was touted to Saudi Pro League sides in January and was available for sale over the summer. Newcastle’s desire to bring in a right-sided forward — with Michael Olise and Anthony Elanga featuring prominently among their targets — was an open secret and that remains the case.
Seemingly, Howe feels Newcastle must evolve beyond Almiron. Murphy divides opinion, but he is a conventional right-footed right winger; Almiron is an inverted left-footed right winger, and Barnes and Gordon have been preferred to the Paraguayan on that flank too. What is disappointing is that Almiron has not been displaced by a quality summer signing, but he has merely slipped behind those players already at the club, albeit those who play in a different style.
Howe insists that Almiron’s lack of game time is partly due to his truncated pre-season following his involvement in the Copa America over the summer, as well as the long-distance travelling he has made during international breaks, which has affected his ability to reach peak fitness. Yet the same applies to Bruno Guimaraes and he has not been left on the sidelines.
Almiron deserves immense credit for his service to Newcastle, but it appears as if he is no longer deemed to be of a high enough calibre to start every week.
Is Kieran Trippier more likely to stay now he is starting again or does he still want to leave? — DB
Waugh: It is too early to say. But, as promising as Livramento is, Trippier remains vital to Newcastle’s attacking game plan. That was evident against Manchester City.
While Livramento has greater recovery pace defensively and his strength is dribbling possession upfield, Trippier’s ball progression via his passing and his ability to regularly play dangerous balls into the box from open play and set pieces are unrivalled.
Seemingly, Howe felt Newcastle were ready to progress away from their reliance on Trippier at the start of the season and, with the former England international returning short of full fitness following a truncated pre-season, Livramento was the first-choice right-back. Now, Trippier has regained his starting spot.
Whether that changes his mind about wanting to leave is unclear. He has remained extremely professional and has not demanded an exit, though he has intimated that his preference was to depart during the summer. At 34, it still feels like we are entering the final throes of Trippier’s Newcastle career, though Howe would love to keep him around for longer.
Can you see Newcastle signing anyone in January? How much money is available? — Anonymous U
Waugh: Yes, I do expect Newcastle to make signings in January, but their plans are not finalised and are unlikely to be until closer to the window. A right-sided centre-back and a right-sided forward were summer priorities and they remain prominent positions for the scouting team.
Marc Guehi is still of keen interest, but at a significantly reduced price to the one Crystal Palace quoted Newcastle in the summer. Burnley’s James Trafford is still admired, with Howe keen to sign a genuine No 2 to compete with Pope, though at least one of Newcastle’s other four senior goalkeepers may need to depart first before another is brought in (as was the case during the previous window).
Newcastle do prefer to do the majority of their business during the summer, rather than January, but they have decent wiggle room now when it comes to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Whether a centre-back will be sought mid-season may depend on how Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles fare once they return to fitness — both are on course to return by Christmas — and the position Newcastle find themselves in injury-wise across the team.
Newcastle are likely to be active, but they will not panic and Mitchell is expected to aim for players under the age of 26 with substantial sell-on value.
It seemed that, until this week, the players had been briefed to not run as much. Is this the influence of James Bunce, or unrelated? — Oliver H
Waugh: Howe is adamant that was not the case. He was asked earlier in the season if Newcastle have tweaked their style and he rejected the suggestion. Howe also reiterated on Friday that he is confident his side will rediscover their renowned intensity in time.
Bunce has had an influence on training and on recovery since his summer arrival, with the performance director tasked with injury prevention and ensuring all Newcastle’s medical, sports-science and analysis departments work more collaboratively with the first-team coaching staff. Howe has welcomed Bunce’s input and there have been tweaks to Newcastle’s schedule and how they operate.
But, rather than want to move away from a high-pressing, high-octane approach, Howe hopes to ramp that up further. Some of the changes have been with the belief that Newcastle can maintain their physical levels across a full campaign, while theoretically suffering fewer injuries, with the idea being that they will taper up as the season progresses.
With some players returning short of peak fitness due to shortened pre-seasons, Newcastle have simply been unable to consistently deploy Howe’s preferred athletic approach. Even so, Howe was unimpressed by his side’s commitment, endeavour and general running stats at Fulham, which he made clear to his players, demanding a response against Manchester City.
On Saturday, Newcastle resembled a “Howe side” again. The difficulty now is replicating that on a weekly basis. Whether they are physically ready to do so yet remains to be seen.
(Top photo: Osula and Almiron training last week; by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
