Newcastle CEO David Hopkinson has refused to give any cast-iron assurances over the future of Eddie Howe, saying he “doesn’t have a stance on his future” before clarifying the club weren’t “looking to make a change at the moment”.
Hopkinson was speaking in a media briefing with reporters a week after the derby defeat to Sunderland, and their Champions League hammering by Barcelona.
Those setbacks increased the pressure on Howe, whose side are 12th in the Premier League table despite a huge summer outlay – partially funded by Alexander Isak’s move to Liverpool – that saw the club spend over £200m on the likes of Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey.
Asked about Howe, Hopkinson said: “I don’t have a stance on his future. What I can tell you is that the derby loss hurt. We take it seriously. There’s nothing within us that thinks ‘well, it’s just three points and on we go’. It has resonated.
“I spent a couple of hours in a one-on-one lunch recently with Eddie, and we talked through a multitude of things, including that.
“Eddie’s our manager. I expect to have a great run to the end of the season here, and we’ll talk about the future when it’s time. Right now, we’re focused on this season’s competition.”
We are focused on the final seven matches – Hopkinson
It was put to Hopkinson that he had given an open-ended answer on Howe, to which he responded: “I would not frame it that way. We are not looking to make a change at the moment.
“We are not having those conversations. We are still in the midst of the season. Right now we are focused on the seven matches we have remaining and not distracting ourselves with speculation about what we may or may not do in the summer.
“Right now, all of us have only got so much bandwidth and we are focused on this season and finishing strongly.”
Howe ‘understands’ need for squad cost management
Newcastle are highly unlikely to play Champions League football again next season, which could mean several players look to move on in the summer.
Although the club posted a £34.7million profit for the year ending June 2025, that was largely due to selling the leasehold for St James’ Park to a subsidiary company and player sales could be necessary at the end of the season to ensure they remain within PSR boundaries.
Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali have all been linked with moves away from Tyneside and Hopkinson did little to suggest sales were not inevitable.
He added: “Eddie is experienced, thoughtful and understands squad cost management and the need to maximise our competitive opportunity. Eddie wants the exact same things we do and we have lots of good dialogue with him. What I can tell you is he is aligned and understands this.”
