Newcastle United are heading out to Asia for their pre-season tour and Eddie Howe has selected seven prospects in his 30-man squad for the trip.
It has not been the optimistic summer Newcastle United were expecting after sealing Champions League football on the final day of last season.
Instead, the summer has been tarnished by a terrible transfer window in which Eddie Howe has missed out on several targets.
Liam Delap, Matheus Cunha, Joao Pedro, Bryan Mbuemo and Hugo Ekitike have all opted to go elsewhere, and Newcastle might even miss out on James Trafford, too.
To make matters worse, Newcastle were thumped 4-0 by Celtic in their opening pre-season friendly to further dampen the mood at St. James’ Park.
Only Anthony Elanga has been signed so far, so there won’t be many new faces taking to the field in the side’s three friendlies in Singapore and South Korea.
However, there are some promising youngsters for fans to get excited about this summer, even if Alexander Isak’s absence is cause for concern.
Howe has taken Sean Neave, Alex Murphy, Travis Hernes, Anthony Munda, Alfie Harrison, Harrison Ashby and Max Thompson on the tour and here is all you need to know about them.
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Sean Neave
The next shining light from the Newcastle academy is young striker Sean Neave, who has been knocking on Howe’s door for a while.
The Newcastle-born forward has been in and around the first team for months and has been impressing alongside the seniors. He was named on the bench nine times last season, including for the Carabao Cup final, but is yet to make his competitive debut.
Neave did come on against Celtic for his first-ever appearance, and he will surely get more chances to impress in Asia.
With 25 goals in 47 appearances for the Under-18s and Under-21s, he certainly knows how to hit the back of the net.
Alex Murphy
Alex Murphy has been familiar to Newcastle fans for a while now, after he made his senior debut against Chelsea in November 2023.
After two appearances and a lot of training with Howe’s squad, the versatile, Irish defender left for his first taste of regular action in January by joining League One side Bolton Wanderers on loan.
Murphy scored two goals in 13 appearances and was praised by manager Steve Schumacher, but did receive an equal amount of criticism from Bolton fans for his defending.
Yet, Murphy was the one Newcastle player who looked sharp against Celtic and should get more minutes on tour.
Travis Hernes
Travis Hernes is another player who left on loan last season, and it went even worse for him at Danish side Aalborg.
He made just 10 starts without a goal contribution, and his time was marked by a controversial incident when Hernes was spotted on a night out with teammates after a heavy defeat, for which he had to apologise.
Yet, the 19-year-old playmaker remains highly rated at the club and has the opportunity to show his talents to Howe this summer.
Anthony Munda
Anthony Munda has seemingly come out of nowhere to be a part of Howe’s pre-season plans.
The Geordie, all-action midfielder has been with the club since he was nine and has been a near-ever-present in the Under-18s and then Under-21s since he was 16.
Munda was named on the bench against Celtic but was one of the few who didn’t get on the pitch. He’ll be hoping to change that in at least one of the three upcoming games.
Alfie Harrison
Alfie Harrison is a surprise call-up to the travelling squad, given he wasn’t involved at all against Celtic or in the Austrian training camp. Leo Shahar was in Austria, for example, but won’t be heading East.
Newcastle paid a sizeable £3.5m fee to sign Harrison from Manchester City in 2024 and the teenage midfielder was with the squad during last summer’s pre-season.
Harrison played 20 times for the Under-21s last term, scoring three times and creating seven goals for teammates. With a year left on his contract, this might be his last chance to impress.
Harrison Ashby
Now 23, Harrison Ashby doesn’t really qualify as a youngster any more but he has yet to play in a competitive match for the club.
Ashby is another who is in the last chance saloon at Newcastle, with the combative right-back running out of time to make it at the club that spent £3m to sign him from West Ham in 2023.
He spent last season on loan at QPR, where he made 31 appearances in the Championship and claimed one assist.
Max Thompson
With so many senior goalkeepers ahead of him in the pecking order, Max Thompson is the one player on the pre-season tour who is unlikely to see any minutes.
Even if Martin Dubravka isn’t making the trip, the 20-year-old shot-stopper is unlikely to get minutes with Nick Pope needing time to prepare for the new season, with Trafford still not signed.
However, given his competition is Odysseas Vlachodimos, John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie, maybe Howe will give him a chance instead of the older heads.
Thompson spent last season on loan at Chesterfield but struggled in League Two, conceding 27 goals in 21 games and keeping just six clean sheets before eventually losing his place.
Newcastle United pre-season tour squad in full
The full squad for the tour of Singapore and South Korea is:
- Goalkeepers: Vlachodimos, Pope, Ruddy, Thompson, Gillespie
- Defenders: Krafth, Ashby, Botman, Targett, Trippier, Hall, Livramento, Schar, Lascelles, Burn, Murphy
- Midfielders: Guimaraes, Joelinton, Miley, Tonali, Willock, Hernes, Munda, Harrison
- Forwards: Barnes, Murphy, Osula, Elanga, Gordon, Neave
Newcastle play Arsenal, a K League XI and Tottenham Hotspur in their three matches out in Asia before bringing their pre-season schedule to close with a Spanish double header against Espanyol and Atletico Madrid at St. James’ Park.
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