On Saturday evening, Newcastle United will entertain Aston Villa at St James Park for the first teatime fixture of the season as they look to improve on their expectation-defying fourth placed finish last season.
A busy summer on Tyneside has seen the Magpies recruit Sandro Tonali from AC Milan in a deal worth £55 million. The 23 year-old midfielder will bring extra quality into the middle of the park with Champions League experience already under his belt.
In addition, Tino Livramento and Harvey Barnes have been signed from the relegated sides of Southampton and Leicester respectively. Livramento has signed for a fee of £40 million after impressing in the 2021-22 season at Southampton before an ACL injury saw him only make two substitute appearances in the last campaign.
Meanwhile, Harvey Barnes joins in a deal worth up to £35 million after being a star performer in a poor Leicester side last season. The left-winger, who is still only 25 years of age, scored 35 goals and notched up 25 assists in his time at Leicester City in the Premier League.
The new arrivals will hope to give plenty of strength in depth to Eddie Howe, who will have to balance the demands of domestic football along with the desire to go far in Europe. This season will be Newcastle’s first in the Champions League for 20 years, with the Magpies qualifying ahead of the likes of Chelseas, Tottenham and Liverpool to have a place in the elite competition.
While Sunday’s clash represents a tough opening game against Unai Emery’s highly rated Aston Villa, Howe was keen to underline that his side are ‘fit, eager and looking forward to the challenge’.
Team News
Concerning injuries for Newcastle, there is both good and bad news. Fabian Schär returns for the Magpies after missing the last three pre-season fixtures with a hamstring issue. The central defender featured in 36 out of Newcastle’s 38 Premier League fixtures last season, in what was the league’s joint best defence along with Manchester City.
Howe said: “As it currently stands, yes he will be available. He's trained this week and trained well. He was back with us on Tuesday so he's had a full week of training.”
In less positive news, attacking midfielder Joe Willock has been ruled out until next month’s international break after being plagued by hamstring issues for the last few months.
“Joe worked hard through the summer. He’s had a really bad hamstring injury. It was a serious injury to his hamstring, he missed the back end of last season and then through pre-season was working back. He has just felt a little bit of discomfort in his hamstring, not necessarily another pull to the area, just some discomfort, so we’ve had to lock him down again and he’s in the process now of building himself back up. We will probably miss him for the first group of games before the first international break,” Howe added.
Willock made 35 appearances last season for Newcastle, and on his return will be expected to be an important member of the squad if not the first eleven.
On transfers
Howe also discussed his sides new arrivals ahead of the Magpies’ opener, with the manager underlining how well Tonali has settled in as well as the need for potentially one more arrival.
On the arrival of Tonali from AC Milan, Howe highlighted the importance of allowing players time to bed in, with the move for Tonali finalised in early July, allowing the player to feature in all of Newcastle’s pre-season fixtures.
Howe said: “I think when you're bringing players from abroad you have to try and get them early. There's a settling in period. I have to compliment Sandro on how he's handled the move and how he's adapting to the changes. He's done really well.
"Ideally you want to get them in early. But it's not always perfect. We're pleased to get the majority of our business done early and I think we're in a good place.”
Tonali played a major role in AC Milan’s journey to the semi-final of last season’s Champions League, with player expected to bring much needed elite-level experience into the side despite his still tender age of 23.
In addition, Tonali will be expected to play in the No 6 role giving Bruno Guimaraes the licence to venture much further up the field into his more natural number 8 role.
Howe also had positive words for Livramento, and said: “A lot to like. He’s very athletic. Incredibly quick, dynamic and good endurance levels so he'll be box to box. Great age. He's back after a long injury and he's had all of pre-season and not missed a day. That needs to be taken into context. Really exciting player. He's fully fit and training. No issues there. it's just important we manage him. He's already impressed me in training this week.”
While Howe noted Livramento’s versatility, the manager was keen to state where he’ll play the majority of his minutes.
He said: “Hopefully he can play different roles. It's something we'll find out in due course. I think he has played left-back before. Naturally, most right-backs can move over, it's difficult for the left-backs to come across. Possibly he could play there for us. Predominantly he'll be a right-back.”
Despite the trio of fresh faces on Tyneside, Howe did not rule out the possibility of another addition, with the manager keen to add one to his squad that will be expected to compete in four competitions this season.
The Magpies' manager said: “I think you never quite know. It depends on injuries and suspensions to a point. I'd love one more player. That's what I'd love personally. The ideal depth at this moment. Let's wait and see.”
On Newcastle’s ‘biggest challenge yet’
While Newcastle defied all expectations last year, it would not be unfair to say that the work is only just beginning on Tyneside, with the club’s mega-rich owners plotting more than just fourth placed finishes.
For Howe, however, the message at this point is simply to ask for his players to give maximum effort, with the Magpies greatest challenge still ahead of them.
Howe said: “Naturally you move from challenge to challenge and now I think the one in front of us is our biggest challenge, but we have to be excited about it. We have to take it head on. We go into a very difficult start and that's another challenge added to it, but we'll give it our best shot. We'll go all in and that's all I ask the players to deliver - their absolute maximum.”
He also described how pre-season has left the Magpies in a good position ahead of the upcoming season, with the club competing in the summer series in the United States to prepare.
"I feel we're in a good place. It was an intense pre-season period for us... I think now we enter the season where you'd expect after a full pre-season. Fit, eager and looking forward to the challenge," he added.
With Newcastle’s pre-season and summer of business leaving them well-prepared for what is arguably their biggest season in 20 years, Saturday’s opener against Villa promises to raise the curtain on what should be an exciting season on Tyneside.
