Photo: Javi Manquillo pictured back in Newcastle training after injury

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Newcastle United defender Javi Manquillo didn’t feature at all during pre-season, but now the defender is back in training with the Magpies.

Eddie Howe has taken his team to Austria and Portugal in preparation of the new Premier League campaign, putting them through their paces in his first ever pre-season as Toon boss.

The new signings got acquainted with their new teammates, while youngsters got a chance to impress too. However, Manquillo was nowhere to be seen.

The Spaniard hasn’t played a single minute of football all summer, and hasn’t even been pictured in training – until now.

Manquillo back in training ahead of Forest clash

The club have released the official training pictures ahead of the first game of the season against Nottingham Forest. All the usual suspects are spotted, from Bruno Guimaraes to Allan Saint-Maximin.

There are some youngsters involved too, with Santiago Munoz continuing to work with the first-team after making his first senior appearance off the bench against Athletic Bilbao.

But the most surprising player pictured is Manquillo. The club posted four training pictures on Twitter, and Manquillo can be seen in the background of the fourth snap.

He also features in photos on the official Toon website, where he can be seen above.

He had been suffering with injury all summer, and returned to Spain for treatment while the players prepared for the new season.

Howe recently stated that Manquillo would hopefully return after the team’s trip to Portugal, and that has proven to be the case.

It has been a tough summer for the 28-year-old, but at least he’s back now. His versatility is certainly a great asset given he can play on the right or left of defence.

However, he is playing catch up. By the end of last season, Manquillo was very much the club’s third choice right-back. Kieran Trippier and Emil Krafth are both ahead of him. Spending all of pre-season injured won’t have helped his cause.

There has also been speculation that he could leave St James’ Park. The Chronicle stated that he has interest from clubs in Spain.

But the main thing is he’s back now, and hopefully in contention for a place on the bench against Forest on Saturday.