Newcastle to fight to keep Eddie Howe amid England manager speculation

Howe is one of the bookmakers’ favourites to succeed Gareth Southgate, who announced he was stepping down after almost eight years as national team manager on Tuesday morning.

However, Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales is determined to keep Howe, after confirming the 46-year-old had agreed a multi-year contract extension last summer.

Eales insisted it was all “hypothetical” at this point, but asked if the Magpies would fight to keep Howe in the event of an approach from the Football Association, Eales said: “Yes, absolutely.

“We are on an exciting journey and as far as we are concerned, Eddie is the man to lead us on it.

“In any organisation, if you are doing well there will be speculation from other clubs. But Eddie is under a long-term contract with the club.

“You see him, he loves the day-to-day running of club football and we have an exciting project here in terms of the ownership commitment and the journey we want to go on. We are really excited about this season ahead of us.

“He’s a great developer of players. He understands the psyche of the club, Newcastle and the fans. We’ve seen that in the way the team and the fans have that affinity.

“For us, he is exactly the right man for the project we are on at Newcastle United and that is why we are committed to a long-term deal with him. That is why we think he is the right man for Newcastle. We love him.”

Asked if he saw Howe on the Newcastle bench for the first game of the new Premier League season in August, Eales replied: “Absolutely yes.”

Eales said there was no “set amount” for compensation but that some form of payment would have to be made as for any club employee under a multi-year contract.

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