Newcastle United officials have some big decisions to make regarding contracts in the coming months.
We have already seen Fabian Schar extend his stay at St James’ Park, while fellow defender Emil Krafth has also put pen to paper over a new deal to continue his Newcastle United career.
However, there are various other players whose current contracts expire at the end of the current season. The biggest name is Jamaal Lascelles, who could be about to call time on being Toon captain if he is not offered a new deal.
Elsewhere, long-serving players like Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett are also coming towards the end of their current deals. It was recently reported that the latter would not be staying at St James’ Park beyond the current season, but it looks like a final decision has not been made as of yet.
And there is still a chance that both of them could remain at the club.
Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett could stay at Newcastle
That is according to the Chronicle, who state that both Ritchie and Dummett are in with a chance of getting a new contract at Newcastle United.
The Chronicle report that talks have taken place over the past few days, as they await a decision over their futures.
In truth, it would be a real surprise to see either player remain at St James’ Park. Neither of them feature regularly, and this has to be seen as the ideal opportunity to move them on.
While Ritchie and Dummett are both great characters behind the scenes at Newcastle, the club need to make some difficult decisions and put sentiment to one side.
That is certainly the case with Ritchie, who was recently called ‘incredible’ and an ‘inspiration’ after his late equaliser against Bournemouth.
As good as that moment was, the £12million man does not contribute enough on the pitch to justify keeping him for another year. The same goes for Dummett, who has only started two games this season, both of which were in the Carabao Cup.
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