Your Newcastle United headlines for Monday, February 6.
Prayers for Atsu
Former Newcastle winger Christian Atsu is reportedly yet to be accounted for after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Turkey and Syria in the early hours of Monday morning. The Ghanian struck a 97th-minute winner for his club Hatayspor on Sunday but there is now fears for a number of the Turkish side following the quake.
According to reports in Turkey, Atsu and Hatayspor club translator Emre Aslan are yet to be found among the rubble following the collapse of a building. Hatayspor stars Bertug Yıldırım and Burak Oksuz, wearing a club jersey, are said to have been pulled out of the rubble.
READ MORE: Newcastle revamp their scouting network as Ashworth masterplan takes shape
Atsu featured 75 times for Newcastle over a four-year period, departing the club back in 2021. He has also featured for Chelsea and Porto during his career.
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City cop multiple charges
Newcastle may benefit from Manchester City's alleged spending breach as the Premier League champions face a wide range of potential penalties in the near future. The Etihad outfit have been referred to an independent commission after being charged with numerous breaches of Premier League financial rules following a four-year investigation into their transfer dealings.
City have been referred over alleged breaches across nine different seasons beginning in 2009/10. Should the commission find the club guilty they could face a potential range of sanctions, including a potential points deduction, transfer embargo or even expulsion from the top flight.
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Neville doubles down on Toon prediction
Gary Neville has stood by his "unpopular" prediction that Newcastle will not secure a top-four finish after watching a 'turning point' in Tottenham's season.
Reflecting on the victory over City, he told the Gary Neville Podcast: "It's a big day for Spurs. I said a couple of weeks ago, they can get into that top four. I said earlier on in the week that I didn't think Newcastle could get into the top four and it was quite unpopular.
"There's no need to have this doom and gloom, and these clouds hanging over you. They just need to put a smile on their faces, and I think today along with that victory against Fulham a couple of weeks ago, they've got a foundation to go ahead and finish in the top four."
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Shelvey opens up
Jonjo Shelvey has vowed that he will "never have a bad word to say" about anyone at Newcastle after making the "difficult" decision to leave the club.
"It was a difficult one because my kids are settled there in school so it's a hard decision to make, but I felt like I needed a fresh start," he told Forest TV in his first interview since the move. "I loved my time at Newcastle. I will never ever have a bad word to say about anyone at the club. I've got a lot of friends there on and off the pitch that I've made and formed friendships that will last a lifetime.
"But I felt, for me, personally, I needed to come away from it and get myself a new challenge. I still feel I've got many years left in me so I wanted to come away and really put my football knowledge and experience to another club."
Isak returns
Newcastle have already been boosted ahead of next weekend's trip to AFC Bournemouth. Eddie Howe will return to his old club with £63million star Alexander Isak back at his disposal after being told by medics he will be fine for the trip to the South Coast.
Going into the clash at Bournemouth, Howe said: "Unfortunately, we had to follow concussion protocols with him, so immediately after the (Southampton) game we knew we would be without him today. It was a big blow for us because he’s looked so good when he’s come on to the pitch in recent weeks.
"He feels good, he feels fine, and I don’t think there’s any issues with him. I’m sure he’ll be fine for next weekend."
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