Eddie Howe gives his first interview of 2023/24

Eddie Howe has given his first NUFC TV of 2023/24. Here are the key takeaways from his almost seven-minute conversation with Dan King:

On pre-season preparations and the first day back

• This pre-season is intended to mirror the last one, with a five-week lead-in to the first game and a similar schedule of matches.
• The players have all had individual programmes to follow over the summer and the ones who have returned have come back fitter than ever before.
• He's been delighted with the first day back overall, but he wouldn't expect anything else from this group of players.

On Anthony Gordon's performance in the U21 Euros

• Gordon playing centrally and doing well for England U21s wasn't a surprise to him, as he'd seen him there for Everton and he's played there in training games at Little Benton.
• His versatility is going to be critical in the season ahead due to the number of games we're going to have.
• He is valued very highly by the club and the hope is that he'll contribute highly this year.

On our other international players' performances

• He's always pleased when Newcastle players get international recognition, but he was especially delighted to see Joelinton being called up and scoring for Brazil.

On signing Sandro Tonali from AC Milan

• Sees Tonali as a high-level player with great experience at such a young age, he brings a wealth of pedigree but has his best years ahead of him.
• He has versatility in his game and expects he'll be able to play various roles for the club, but we'll look at him in training before deciding where to play him.
• Delighted to add some competition in midfield and thinks we'll need depth more than ever this season.

On the fitness of Joe Willock, Nick Pope, Sean Longstaff, and Emil Krafth

• Pope isn't capable of using his hands yet, but he'll be doing footwork training in the first part of pre-season.
• Willock isn't too far away from full training either after his hamstring injury, though he isn't there quite yet.
• Longstaff is fine and back in full training despite missing the last game of 2022/23.
• Krafth is doing well and making progress but is not expected to feature in pre-season at all.

On Paul Dummett and Loris Karius' contract extensions

• Karius was impressive because of how little match practice he had prior to signing and how rapidly he improved during training.
• His attitude and application were superb all campaign and he'll be a valuable part of the goalkeeping team this season.
• Dummett has been a great servant to Newcastle, loves the club, and has good versatility.
• His behind-the-scenes impact last season was vital, primarily due to his application in training and the backing he gave his teammates.

On the upcoming friendlies

• The intention is to make the pre-season games as tough as possible so we're as sharp and as tactically tuned as possible for the Aston Villa game.
• He thinks this pre-season is actually tougher than last season's because next season is going to be even more difficult than the last one was.

We loved seeing Eddie speaking again and we hope you enjoyed the breakdown, but if you want to watch the interview in full, it's here: