New Deals or Sell?

Contract expiry dates are something that’s always near the front of my mind when I’m playing football manager but was never something I thought about when thinking of Newcastle in real life.

Players sign for the club and the announcement would normally say long term deal so never really disclosed, if a new deal was signed it was great news or surprising depending on the player or if a first team player did leave on a free it never grabbed my attention unless it was a local player or a long term servant of the club.  

That was until the saga of the summer and the constant mention of promises, length of time remaining on the current deal or wages related to the rest of the team.

So that made me want to have a quick gander on whose deals run out when and when we could need to offer a new deal or sell to maximise the fee received to comply with the three most frustrating letters in Newcastle United’s growth…. PSR.

Before I start to list the players, I must stress that these dates are not completely confirmed by an official source, it was very much a google job or from Transfermarkt.co.uk. So, if the years are incorrect I can only apologise.

2026

Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy- I would struggle to remember many appearances for Gillespie for Newcastle’s 1^st team and according to the stats you can count them on 1 hand. I think his name will be removed from the squad by next summer even if he goes to a coaching role. John Ruddy will also move to a coaching role next summer in my opinion.

Jamaal Lascelles- I think this is a similar situation to Callum Wilson, where we appreciate what he has done for our club especially as our captain, but he will be leaving next summer or earlier if an opportunity to get a fee presents itself in January.

Emil Krath- Krath does exactly what it says on the tin. He’s not going to be pulling out many 9/10 games during the remainder of his Newcastle career but in the same token he’s never going to drop a 4/10 in there either. I do think this will be his last season with us but wouldn’t be surprised if he signed a 1-year contract extension.

Harrison Ashby - Ashby is a player who appears occasionally in the 1^st team squad but primarily in the U21s. I don’t think he will be a regular 1^st team player and could see him leaving as soon as January.

Kieran Trippier- The player who started it all when it comes to signings and who has more than repaid the fee paid on the pitch and with influence off it. He leads by example and can only imagine how much the likes of Livramento and Hall are learning from him. I would like to see him sign a 1-year contract extension because of that influence and experience. If he were to leave, I would suggest we would have a sizable wage coming back into the budget and it would open the door for a future thinking signing to replace him to go with Hall and Livramento.

Fabian Schar- “Control, Copy, Paste has more than repaid the fee paid on the pitch” 4 million pound was an absolute steal and as he potentially approaches 250 games for the club could go down as one of our best buys of all time. He’s scored important goals for us and been part of some incredible moments. Botman and Thaiw are clearly our future centre backs so this could be his last season but like Trippier an extension wouldn’t be grumbled at.

Nick Pope- If it is correct that Nick Pope’s contract expiries next summer then the conversation around our goalkeeping position is starting to make sense. Nick Pope has started the season very well and aside the end of the Arsenal game deserves to be our 1^st choice currently. However, if his contract is expiring next summer, and the need for modern keepers to be effective with their feet will we start to see the transition from Pope to Ramsdale from January with that in mind. The fee we paid was a cheap one so looking to sell him in January isn’t necessary and don’t think there is much urgency to tie him down because of the Ramsdale option to buy.

2027

Jacob Murphy- “The charger to the I phone and the I phone has been useless without the charger since” Not sure if that was a completely accurate comparison but made me chuckle. There’s no urgency for Jacob Murphy either way. I might be surprised to see him play for us past 2027 but wouldn’t be surprised to see him sold next summer if the right fee came in as well. An important player for us in different categories and will be a situation where no movement either way would make sense.

Dan Burn- What Newcastle fan doesn’t love big Dan Burn? Whereas Murphy could be sold at the right price, I see Dan Burn ending his career at Newcastle. No rush to see any movement and if we can establish a longer-term centre back partnership then Dan Burn would still be effective cover and experience to have around them on and off the pitch.

Joe Willock- This is the 1^st player who I would put in the sell next summer regardless category or in January depending on incomings. That’s not to say he is a bad player I just think he is the next player after Longstaff whose time has organically reached its conclusion at the club. There would be mid table premier league sides who he would fit in nicely to who we would be able to get a decent fee from as well.

Sven Botman- If Willock is my 1^st player 100% on the leave category, then Botman is a player we need to think about offering a new deal to. Of course, there are the questions about his injury record, but he also has the quality and adaptability to fit into top sides for all the big five leagues in Europe. His injury record may keep some of the “Elite vultures” at bay during the season but if he stays fit and continues to play well, approaching his last year will naturally have some of them on alert and we don’t want to be ripped off with the incoming transfer fee.  

Eddie Howe (And presumably a large percentage of his coaching team- Thomas Tuchel’s contract runs out at the end of the 2026 world cup. Eddie Howe will inevitably be linked with the role again if that tournament goes badly. We do not want to be going into the 26/27 season with speculation around arguably the most important person at the club. My hypothetical hope is that after another successful season on the pitch and strives forward off it, that the club continue to display their trust in Eddie Howe and his team and offers him a new contract before the start of the world cup.

2028

Alex Murphy- I will start with the simple one. No urgency either way needed for Alex Murphy, time to see how he develops and with Krath and/or Trippier potentially leaving soon his opportunities may increase if his development takes an effective and positive upturn.

Harvey Barnes- What to do with a Harvey Barnes? So, the length of his contract remaining suggests we are in a positive state with Barnes off the pitch. There’s no need to worry about new contract demands because his inconsistencies do not warrant one but if he were to sell him, we should get a sizable transfer fee if right club came in for him all while potentially giving him the opportunity to improve on the pitch and show the quality we know he has which would be positive for us as well. Looking at it from that angle will help me with my Barnes frustrations. Will have to remember to get Joe’s opinion on this for the next Q&A.

Joelinton, Sandro Tonali, Bruno. Tino Livromento- Any player sale here we are talking Isak money and then some in my opinion, but I want all four of these players as part of the next stage of the club’s development. All four of them need to be offered new deals but priority order is key as it may affect incoming transfers as well.

Sandro Tonali- Arguably the player who will have the most suitors so should be the 1^st player we get tied down. He is a world class player who will get in any team in the world without question and potentially hasn’t hit his prime yet. The club and fans stood by him during the gambling ordeal and I’m sure that’s not lost on him either so don’t expect an Isak situation to arise with strikes etc but at the end of the day he will be ambitious and if we fail to progress over the next 18 months, he would be in his right to look to move on. Offering a new contract now while his stock is high but also ours because of the Champions League would protect the club financially but also the player himself with in writing assurances of the direction of his future.

Tino Livromento- Man City were reportedly interested in the summer and I see no reason why premier league sides would not look at him again. Regardless of new contracts or not I believe we would make a massive profit on Tino, but I see him and Lewis Hall (Injuries permitting for both) as our fullbacks for the next 5-10 years and seeing him sign a new contract would be a massive positive.

Bruno and Joelinton-I put these two together because the same applies for them both. They have a clear love, understanding and appreciation for everything Newcastle. There will have to be a catastrophic turn of events on the pitch for one of them to leave let alone both. That being said we cannot take their loyalty and commitment for granted and when the opportunity presents itself, we have to offer them new contracts to reflect their importance to us. Obviously, performances will dictate this as well but if we can keep that midfield three on the same contract lengths it can only get better. Maybe some kind of bonus for big Jo if he doesn’t exceed a certain number of yellow cards.

Longer deals

2029 Thaiw, Wissa, Hall, Miley, Osula- No thoughts on contract issues for these players for at least another 12 months. Osula may be subject to more bids next summer and it will be a case of how much is too much to turn down if he hasn’t broken into the starting 11 completely by then.

2030 and beyond, Gordon, Elanga, Ramsey, Woltemade- If someone wants Gordon then it’s going to be more than Isak cost that’s for sure and would find it quite ironically funny if Bayern came knocking on the “Idiots” door for Woltemade when Kane nears retirement.

For me it is those 2028 players that could be a key performance indicator for us as to when or if we are in a position to offer new deals and levels of ambition they deserve and of course the Eddie Howe factor throughout the team as the years pass by.

What do people think? Would you sell one of the major stars to help fund the next recruitment drive or is there also an argument that giving our current star players bigger deals in the short term make it even more difficult to navigate the market in the long run?

Matt L