Exits have 'been explored' for three first-team Newcastle stars this summer but no deals are close

Over the most tense and hectic weekend of transfer activity we've seen in a while Newcastle United finally moved on two talented youngsters, one who was making their mark on the first team and one who had never even trained with the first team.

Now that those deals are done, Newcastle can look at moving on more first-team and first-team-adjacent players ahead of the new season to make way for new recruits in an attempt to refresh the squad for the new campaign.

There are a few players who maybe aren't quite up to the standard we need to launch an assault on the Champions League places next season for various reasons, and three of those have been identified by The Athletic as players the club have been exploring exits for.

First off is Kieran Trippier who is having a nightmare right now, underperforming while playing out of position for England while it seems his wife is making a start on life without him by posting "empowering" messages on her Instagram and reportedly put their house up for sale. Nice timing, Charlotte. Selfish.

Has the time come to let Kieran Trippier go?

Trippier has been a talisman for Newcastle since his £12million arrival from Atletico Madrid, his leadership and his ability to provide assists pulled us out from a relegation fight and into the Champions League.

However, last season his form dropped considerably and injuries plagued his season. Despite that, the 33-year-old is now in Germany representing England, but his performances there are doing little to convince us that he should be getting in our first-team ahead of Tino Livramento, and as such, cashing in while we still can may not be a bad idea.

Callum Wilson is another one with a similar story to that of Kieran Trippier in that age and injuries are taking their toll. Wilson can still find the back of the net when he's on the pitch, I don't think anyone is doubting that, but it's so rare that he's actually on the pitch that the club need to seriously consider if he's an asset or a liability at this point. Given that we could still fetch a decent fee for the 32-year-old, even with just a year left on his contract, again, it may not be a bad idea to act now.

We believe Sean Longstaff has peaked

While The Athletic does state that exits are not close or even guaranteed for this trio, the final player, for us, is the most likely to leave.

Sean Longstaff is a true Geordie warrior, a lifelong Newcastle fan and academy graduate, he bleeds black and white, playing the bulk of last season with an injury. Unfortunately, for a large part of the season, he played like someone carrying an injury.

You could argue that entitles him to another shot to see if he improves this season when he's fully fit, but we believe Longstaff has peaked and his peak just isn't up to where the club is heading. The fact that he's a local lad and counts towards the homegrown quota which would come into play should Newcastle get back into Europe, could potentially save him, but we feel the time has come to say goodbye.

Meanwhile, Miguel Almiron and Martin Dubravka are two players who look almost certain to leave in the coming weeks.