This Newcastle United team will be a reality next season – An Eddie Howe first | OneFootball

Next season will see this Newcastle United team unveiled by Eddie Howe.

At some point.

Quite astonishing that this will have taken four years and eight transfer windows to happen.

Nevertheless, at some point we will see this Newcastle United team.

That is, a Newcastle United team made up entirely Eddie Howe signings.

I think this proves two things.

Firstly, Eddie Howe has had far less scope to change things since arriving at NUFC in November 2021, than the vast majority of outsiders give him credit for.

Secondly, what an absolutely superb job Eddie Howe has done in wringing every last drop of positive contribution from the players that he inherited.

When you consider just how much it was taken for granted that Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce were taking Newcastle United to a (third Ashley) relegation, before the new owners and Eddie Howe saved the disastrous situation mid-season.

The very final Steve Bruce match was the home defeat to Spurs on Sunday 17 October 2021, this was the starting eleven and subs:

Team v Spurs: Darlow, Manquillo, Lascelles, Clark, Ritchie, Hayden, ASM, Willock, Longstaff, Joelinton, Wilson

Subs: Gillespie, Schar, Lewis, Hendrick, Fernandez, Murphy, Gayle, Shelvey, Fraser

Five of that starting eleven from four years ago are currently still contracted to Newcastle United, it would have been six but Dubravka was injured for that Spurs match which meant Darlow played instead.

Then another three were on the bench that day – Jamal Lewis, then both Fabian Schar and Jacob Murphy who couldn’t even get a game under Steve Bruce, yet have been two of United’s best players this past season as Eddie Howe led us to silverware and Champion League qualification.

As I indicated earlier, so far Eddie Howe hasn’t put out a single Newcastle United team for any competitive game so far, made up entirely of his signings.

That will change though at some point.

This is how that Newcastle United team could look:

Nick Pope/New signing

Tino Livramento/Kieran Trippier

New signing

Sven Botman/Dan Burn

Lewis Hall

Sandro Tonali

New signing

Bruno Guimaraes

New signing

Alexander Isak

Anthony Gordon/Harvey Barnes

Across the 2024/25 season, those of the inherited players that made by far the most starts still in the Newcastle United team were (in all competitions) Fabian Schar (40 starts), Joelinton (37) and Jacob Murphy (36).

Whilst we are still awaiting on these signings happening, I think we will all be astonished if new players don’t arrive to play right centre-back and right wing. It is expected these will be big money signings who could well go straight into the first team, but even if they don’t do that straight away, fair to say they will start plenty of matches across the season.

Joelinton is the one who I think we’d all agree would continue to be first choice. However, with his injury record of recent times, there is no way he will play every single match. Hopefully more a case of Eddie Howe able to keep him sound by rotating at times, rather than more injury issues for the Brazil international.

I think a new midfield option will be signed this summer as well, with Longstaff leaving and possibly Willock as well. So if say Joelinton isn’t playing some games, that new midfield option will play alongside Tonali and Bruno, though maybe play a different formation that would also mean a team of Eddie Howe signings, using just the two out and out central midfielders.

Whether they do leave or not, the likes of Willock and Longstaff are not the first team regulars they were across that superb 2022/23 season when United finished fourth.

Wilson will either leave or be a squad player, Dubravka the same, whilst Krafth also a squad player.

Anyway, we will get there eventually and at some point this season it will be an entire Newcastle United team of Eddie Howe signings.

We haven’t been far away at times. The team that started at Wembley included only Murphy, Joelinton and Schar as players that Eddie Howe inherited, whilst on the final day of last season against Everton it was only Schar and Murphy.

It has been more evolution than revolution under the brilliant NUFC boss, performing miracles with the resources at hand.

Just imagine what could be possible if Eddie Howe can made a few more inspired signings now there is freedom to speculate again in the transfer market this summer.