The majority of Newcastle United's first team returned for pre-season on Friday with Magpies head coach Eddie Howe left with a number of decisions to make. Their summer transfer business has been impressive so far, but after Sven Botman's arrival, the Magpies now have 35 players to fit into a 25-man Premier League squad.
Newcastle are not yet done in the transfer market with their next priority being options further up the field. However, former Leeds United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny believes five or six players are holding the Magpies back.
Howe knows that a number of players need to leave the club this summer, in order to comply with the Premier League regulations, but it would also free up a chunk of wages to reinvest elsewhere. The Toon still have to comply with Financial Fair Play and there are a number of players who could leave Tyneside this summer.
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Jamal Lewis and Ciaran Clark were left out of the 25-man squad after the January window closed, while the likes of Jeff Hendrick left the club on loan. Dwight Gayle is another who found game time hard to come by and there could be some departures in defence given the recent additions.
Kenny told Football Insider: "Listen, some players are going to have to move on. They have a massive squad there and you look through some of the players who are there. They can’t all stay. That has to be the focus now. There are a lot of players who aren’t good enough and weren’t good enough before the takeover.
"There are five or six players who probably need to go before they should be focusing on bringing another player in. They are taking up space on the wage bill and they just aren’t going to play, so they need to go."
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