Jamal Lewis, Isaac Hayden and Ciaran Clark won't play again for Newcastle United this season after the trio were left of out Eddie Howe's squad for the second half of the campaign.
Although Freddie Woodman and Jeff Hendrick had already gone out on loan, to Bournemouth and QPR respectively, Howe had to omit another three fringe players from his squad following the arrival of Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett and Dan Burn last month.
Newcastle have now confirmed that Lewis, who only completed a £15m move to St James' Park in the summer of 2020; Clark, who has made 127 appearances for the club; and Hayden, who suffered a knee injury in December, are the unlucky trio.
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Lewis' omission, perhaps, comes as the biggest surprise but the Northern Ireland international has not featured since recovering from an hamstring injury he suffered just as he nailed down a spot under Howe in December.
Howe has instead plumped for the experience of Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett in reserve while Burn can also cover at left-back if needed.
Burn's arrival left Clark's place in the squad in real jeopardy after the centre-back's poor form under Howe while Hayden was also going to potentially struggle for game time after Guimaraes joined the club.
Taking to social media after the announcement, Hayden said: "I am bitterly disappointed to have not been included in the 25-man squad for the second half of this season due to injury. It's been a tough 12 months for me, with injuries massively affecting my availability for the club.
"Now is a time for me to reflect. I'll be working harder than ever before to come back stronger like I always do.
"I'll be a supporter like everyone else and I'll be supporting hte lads and the staff as best I can for the rest of the season. We all want to see the club climb the table as much as possible and I am no exception."
It is hard to see the injured Hayden even having the chance to go out on loan, but Clark and Lewis will still have the option of moving abroad to get some game time if they so wish.
Otherwise, the pair will essentially be training players for the rest of the campaign before having the opportunity to reassess their options in the summer.
Although Europe's major leagues are all closed for business, any unregistered players still have the chance to move to: Austria by Monday; Turkey by Tuesday; Serbia by February 11; Switzerland by February 15; Russia and, indeed, the Czech Republic by February 22; and Ukraine by March 22
Newcastle's 25-man squad for the second half of the season is as follows: Newcastle United's 25-man squad for the second half of the season is: 1 Martin Dúbravka 3 Paul Dummett 5 Fabian Schär 6 Jamaal Lascelles 7 Joelinton 8 Jonjo Shelvey 9 Callum Wilson 10 Allan Saint-Maximin 11 Matt Ritchie 13 Matt Targett 15 Kieran Trippier 17 Emil Krafth 18 Federico Fernández 19 Javier Manquillo 20 Chris Wood 21 Ryan Fraser 23 Jacob Murphy 24 Miguel Almirón 26 Karl Darlow 28 Joe Willock 29 Mark Gillespie 33 Dan Burn 34 Dwight Gayle 36 Sean Longstaff 39 Bruno Guimaraes.
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