Eddie Howe hopes his England contingent will tell their international team-mates 'good things' about Newcastle United at the World Cup - but the Magpies boss quipped he won't be briefing them.
Newcastle will have three English players at a World Cup for the first time since 1998 after Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson were all called up by Gareth Southgate. To put that number into perspective, only Man City will have more players on the plane when the Three Lions jet out to Qatar next week.
That will give Newcastle a real presence in the group just months after Pope asked Trippier questions about the club, the city, the dressing room and Howe before joining the Magpies from Burnley last summer. Although Pope was already keen, the goalkeeper admitted Trippier's answers 'really sold' the move to him.
READ MORE: Everything Eddie Howe said on Chelsea, Callum Wilson, injuries and World Cup squad
Players naturally talk to each other about life at their respective clubs when they are away on international duty so does Howe believe that Pope, Trippier and Wilson can help attract others to St James' Park?
"Well, I certainly won't be briefing them on what to say!" he told reporters. "The beauty of that is when players speak to players, hopefully, it's all authentic and the players will just give their opinion of life at Newcastle. If that does happen then hopefully it's good things."
One player in the squad who has been of interest to Newcastle, of course, is Leicester City star James Maddison. Newcastle had two bids turned down by the Foxes last summer and it remains to be seen if the black-and-whites will return with another offer in 2023.
A senior source at Leicester previously stressed to ChronicleLive that the 'manager [Brendan Rodgers] made our position clear - he's not for sale'. However, Maddison is approaching the final 18 months of his contract and the England international has not yet signed a new deal with Leicester, who are two points above the relegation zone.
Leicester certainly won't want to lose Maddison. Harry Kane, after all, is the only Englishman who has been directly involved in more goals in the Premier League since the start of last season and that sort of form meant Southgate just could not ignore Maddison.
On the subject of Maddison's inclusion, Howe, naturally, stressed he 'didn’t really think too much about it' because he had 'tunnel vision when it came to his own players'. When asked if Maddison's value had gone up, after the Leicester talisman booked his seat on the plane, Howe smiled: 'I've got no idea!"
Howe could talk more at length about Wilson, however, after the Newcastle number nine received his first England call-up since 2019. Although Wilson has had to bide his time, the in-form striker never gave up on one day getting back into the squad and realising his World Cup dream.
In fact, Wilson vowed he would return to Qatar with England when he spent part of his rehab in the Gulf state following his second serious knee injury back in 2017. It gives just a little insight into the belief and mental strength at the heart of the 30-year-old's journey.
“Every time he suffered one, there was no side of him that ever looked depressed or down or any type of negative emotion," Howe added. "It was always, 'Right, I've got to deal with this. I'm going to come back better and I'll score even more goals.'"
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