The big transfer call Eddie Howe has already made for…

The big transfer call Eddie Howe has already made for Newcastle United squad ahead of summer window

Eddie Howe wants his Newcastle United side to retain the "identity" that has transformed the Magpies from relegation fodder to Champions League contenders in just over 12 months.

Chroniclelive understands that Howe will still look to maintain many of the group that has built togetherness in the last 18 months for the 2023/24 season - as he feels the team spirit that has been burning since he arrived can be a real asset next season. It is believed that Howe will still get a competitive transfer kitty if he wants it this summer but there will still be plenty of familiar characters around the place next term.

Indeed, Newcastle chiefs are more delighted with the work on the training field that Howe has put in with the players he inherited. The likes of Joe Willock, Joelinton, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schar will hit the run-in stage of the season in a rich vein of form.

And Howe feels that there is more distance for players like the above quartet to run in the next 12 months or so. Howe has also shrewdly kept some of his squad members who aren't getting regular game-time motivated in a different way.

Club skipper Jamaal Lascelles may also stay around with the extra games in Europe meaning the squad will be tested to the limit. It means that despite fresh calls from pundits such as Chris Waddle this weekend that big changes are needed if Newcastle do get their Champions League place, it will still be more of a freshening up process with five or six new names heading to Tyneside this summer.

Howe dropped a hint about team spirit after the hammering of Tottenham and said: "I’m delighted with the whole group, a real team effort."

As reported here on Saturday, Howe is yet to make any decisions on those coming to the end of their contract. And while the club won't stand in the way of those who do want to leave, with Jonjo Shelvey and Chris Wood leaving for better deals elsewhere already this year, Howe is wary of the challenges that an extra competition will bring.

There will be some inevitable departures in the Toon squad and the squad will be freshened up with a return to Europe imminent. But Howe is believed to be targeting only individuals who are prepared to buy into the work ethic and code of conduct that has transformed Newcastle into a top-four side.

Newcastle's preparations for the trip to Everton started immediately after the fans had cleared out of St James' Park on Sunday. Indeed, two of the squad players that weren't used on Sunday against Spurs in Matt Targett and Elliot Anderson were put through their paces with a gruelling fitness session with the backroom team.

The extra session summed up up how hard the Toon head coach has all of his squad members working on a match day. How big a role the pair get at Everton remains to be seen but with two more matches this week and two games in the space of four days against the Toffees and then Southampton next Sunday, rotation seems possible once more.

The big transfer call Eddie Howe has already made for Newcastle United squad ahead of summer window

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