For the majority of the season, Newcastle United have looked like candidates for relegation from the Premier League. They failed to win in either of their first 15 matches of the season and only scraped their first win in early December. It’s been an eventful campaign to say the least. New owners took control of the club and announced that Newcastle would become title contenders in the next few years. But first things first – the only goal for the rest of the season is not to be in the bottom three when the last match of the season has finished.New head coach Eddie Howe has succeeded in dragging the team out of the relegation zone. The black and whites are currently on a seven-match unbeaten run and have won five out of their last six games. Although the club is nowhere near mathematically safe, the recent form gives new owners and Howe hope that they will have some breathing space to plan for the future rather than just scrape for points in the wrong end of the table.Thursday, 22.30: (2.10) Southampton (3.50) Newcastle (3.80)One of the first orders of business after the end of the season will be to offload fringe players and thus create space for quality additions that are bound to land at St. James’ Park.Paraguay international Miguel Almiron was the club’s record signing when he arrived from MLS club Atlanta three years ago in a $26.4 million deal. The 28-year-old is adored by the fans but he hasn’t been quite so influential as he was expected to. The new coach doesn’t seem to rate Almiron so he’ll probably have to find another club.Defensive midfielder Isaac Hayden, who arrived from Arsenal for just $3.2 million five and a half years ago, hasn’t been registered for the Premier League last month and is expected to be sold. The same goes for Northern Irish left-back Jamal Lewis and Irish centre-back Ciaran Clark. Swedish right-back Emil Krafth is currently deputising for the injured Kieran Trippier but is expected to leave at the end of the season.𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗗.⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/g23VGkS6wV— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) March 5, 2022 Striker Dwight Gayle was Newcastle’s best goalscorer in the 2016/17 season when they managed to get promoted from the Championship at the first attempt. Since then, the former Crystal Palace striker has only been a starter in one season and has been reduced to a backup player.Long-serving goalkeeper Karl Darlow will also be shown the door after featuring only sporadically in the past few years.The black and whites are expected to receive a combined fee of around $90 million for these seven players, with Almiron and Lewis probably commanding the highest fees.It’s going to be an eventful transfer window when the season ends. As long as Newcastle remain in the Premier League, of course.
