Eddie Howe's decision to effectively demote Ciaran Clark, Jeff Hendrick and Dwight Gayle shows the Newcastle United head coach is not afraid to get ruthless as he looks to trim his squad.
The experienced trio made just 10 appearances overall under Howe last season and look to have played their last competitive game for the club after being told to train with the reserves. Although Newcastle now have a larger group of players, Howe's decision to reroute Clark, Hendrick and Gayle to the academy building marks a shift in approach.
In the second half of last season, after all, those individuals who were left out of the 25-man squad continued to work with the first team when fit. In fact, Howe welcomed how Clark supported the group and trained like he was still available for selection. Similarly, even though Gayle barely featured under Howe, despite being included in the squad, the striker helped maintain high standards around the training ground and was one of the club's best trainers.
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However, as much as Howe respects these players, the Newcastle boss recoginises that the Magpies will need to trade this summer to make room for the new signings who have already arrived and the others who will follow before the window shuts. The summer is, obviously, a longer window than January but only two first-team players, Isaac Hayden and Freddie Woodman, have left so far and Newcastle simply can't afford to have a bloated squad in more ways than one.
Speaking back in March, part-owner Amanda Staveley admitted the club's wage to turnover ratio was 'probably too high' at around 65% and this figure will have only increased following the arrival of Sven Botman, Nick Pope and Matt Targett on a permanent basis, Hence why moving players on, or at least finding clubs who will take on a percentage of their wages, is important at a time when Newcastle are working on increasing revenues through new sponsorship deals.
Clark still has a year left on his contract while Hendrick and Gayle each have two years to run on their deals so Newcastle's best bet may be to secure loan moves for the trio. Clark and Gayle have young families settled in the area, which is a factor, but Hendrick, for one, is desperate to get game time elsewhere to keep his international career alive.
Rather than working with the trio once more, Howe has instead preferred to take a closer look at a number of the club's youngsters, including Joe Oliver and Isaac Westendorf, as well as returning loanees Kell Watts and Joe White. Howe clearly feels he will get more out of working with these prospects and fellow youngsters Lucas De Bolle, Jay Turner-Cooke and Elliot Anderson after previously coaching Clark, Gayle and Hendrick for an extended period of time.
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