This was always likely to be a big summer for Newcastle United, with the club entering into their first summer transfer window since their Saudi takeover last year.
It was expected that we could see some heavy spending, and while they have made a number of signings, some would have been hoping to see a few more faces through the door at this stage of the off-season.
Some of that may be down to their failure to trim the squad.
While many of their supporters would say that their first team lacks quality, it does not lack numbers. There are quite a few players that they will be looking to offload in the weeks ahead, although they have struggled to do so up to this point. That includes a couple of Ireland internationals.
Eddie Howe take Irish duo out of Newcastle first team
Chronicle Live are reporting that Eddie Howe has forced Irish duo Jeff Hendrick and Ciaran Clark, as well as striker Dwight Gayle, to train away from the rest of the first team during pre-season. That trio will be forced to train at the academy as the club attempts to push them out the door this summer to make room for new recruits.
This isn't necessarily anything new for either player. Clark was left out of Newcastle's Premier League squad after the January window, meaning he knew he could not feature for the club in the second half of the campaign. This was despite the fact that he made 13 appearances in the league up to that point.
Hendrick would make three league appearances last season before joining QPR on loan, finding playing time equally difficult to come by in the Championship.
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The report suggests that the midfielder is keen to move on in search of more playing time this summer, although the situation with Clark remains less clear. He has only one year left on his contract on a rumoured weekly salary of around £40,000, meaning Newcastle might have to subsidise his salary in order to get him out the door.
Regardless of how things go in the weeks ahead, it seems clear that neither player has a future at St James' Park.
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