Two players Newcastle United sold are going to the World Cup

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There are five current Newcastle United players going to the World Cup, and they will be joined by two players the club sold in recent years.

Out of the 32 squads that have been announced, there are only two players who used to ply their trade at St James’ Park before being sold. That is a startlingly low number, and perhaps speaks volumes of the lack of international quality that has been at the club in recent years.

Current players Kieran Trippier, Nick Pope, Callum Wilson, Bruno Guimaraes are going to Qatar. They will also be joined by future Magpie Garang Kuol.

But what about the players from Newcastle’s past?

Yedlin and Mitrovic heading to Qatar

The first player let go by Newcastle going to the World Cup that we are going to look at is DeAndre Yedlin.

The 29-year-old speedster is heading to Qatar with the United States, who face England in Group B. He will be the USA’s most experienced player at the tournament, already boasting 75 caps for his country.

Yedlin left Newcastle on February 1st 2021, back when Steve Bruce was manager. Having been a somewhat reliable player under Rafa Benitez, Yedlin eventually fell out of favour under the new boss.

Bruce then decided to let Yedlin go, and the club didn’t even command a fee for him. The right-back’s contract was set to expire that summer, so he was allowed to join Galatasaray on a free transfer.

Yedlin is now back in America and playing for Inter Miami.

The second player Newcastle sold who is going to the World Cup is Aleksandar Mitrovic. He is Serbia’s number nine, and has been selected for the tournament despite the fact he is nursing an injury.

But it’s no surprise they have taken him. He is their talisman, much like he is Fulham’s back in the Premier League.

Mitro really has been on fire this season, scoring nine league goals so far. Only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Ivan Toney have scored more.

But while he’s on fire now, that wasn’t the case at Newcastle. The striker was adored on Tyneside, but really didn’t live up to his potential in a black and white shirt.

That’s why he was allowed to leave for Fulham, initially on loan before a permanent transfer for £22million.

Since then it’s been goals galore for Mitrovic, who is having a much better time at Craven Cottage, and will now hope to shine on the world stage.

One more former Newcastle player going to the World Cup

Yedlin and Mitrovic are the only two players going to the World Cup who are former permanent Magpies. But there is a third player going to the tournament who did used to represent the club.

Luuk de Jong is part of Netherlands’ 26-man squad, and if he’s as good as he was for Newcastle then they’ve got no chance in Qatar.

The forward signed on loan in 2014 when Alan Pardew was manager. He made 12 appearances and never scored a single goal.

Eight years later and he’s going to a World Cup…