Newcastle United have released a new batch of photos from the club’s training ground, showing those involved in Monday’s session ahead of tonight’s pre-season friendly at Rotherham.
There’s some ‘bad news’ – Yoshinori Muto is back on Tyneside, suggesting he’s not as close as we think to signing for Greek side Aris Thessaloniki following talks.
The Athletic report that the Super League side may only be able to afford a loan deal that sees them pay 40% of his £54,000, with any permanent deal likely to rely on them signing him on a free transfer.
On the plus side, there’s a host of recently absent players who are back in action to beef up our squad ahead of our third friendly of the summer at 7pm tonight.
The first bit of good news is that Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth have returned to the fold following their post-Euro 2020 break.
Elsewhere, our goalkeeping crisis has eased slightly. Martin Dubravka remains out and Karl Darlow has only recently left hospital after suffering badly with COVID-19, but ‘close contracts’ Freddie Woodman and Mark Gillespie have been spotted back in training after completing their self-isolation periods.
Elsewhere, Jonjo Shelvey appears to be finally stepping up his recovery from a recent injury. It’s not clear if he’s still working away from the main group, but the fact he’s pictured back out on the grass is a good sign – even if tonight will almost certainly come too soon for him.
Finally, both Joelinton and Matt Ritchie look to have shaken off recent injuries that saw them miss last Friday’s 3-2 win over Doncaster, with both spotted back in action at our Benton base on Monday.
The bad news is that Javier Manquillo remains absent with a knock, while Elliot Anderson is still struggling with a hip injury that kept him out for the final few weeks of the 2020/21 season.
