Report: Newcastle now looking to sell 22-year-old signed last year who has yet to make his debut

After a lengthy pursuit, Newcastle United finally landed Harrison Ashby from West Ham United last January for £3million.

West Ham fans had earmarked right-back Harrison Ashby as one of their most exciting academy prospects before Newcastle cottoned on and lured him away in a £3million deal in a deadline day move in January 2023.

While we weren't expecting Ashby to come in and barge his way straight into the first-team, we did see him as one for the future and a likely long-term replacement for Kieran Trippier.

In fact, Ashby had often been compared to Trippier in the way that he plays, so it seemed like an absolute no-brainer.

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Tino Livramento leapfrogged Harrison Ashby in the pecking order

Ashby impressed in pre-season for Newcastle even getting himself on the scoresheet and it looked like the future was bright for the 22-year-old, but then Newcastle went and signed Tino Livramento for £32million who also plays right-back and suddenly there was mass confusion.

Clearly, Livramento was now seen as the natural successor to Kieran Trippier, but what did this mean for Ashby?

Harrison Ashby joined Swansea on loan for this season where he did quite well for the Swans but now he's back and GiveMeSport are claiming that his time at Newcastle could come to a premature end this summer.

We are hoping there's no truth to this one but we can't be sure

Ashby is now seen as one of four players who will return from loan at the end of this season and be told to find new clubs ahead of the new campaign.

It's not the most unlikely scenario as the club do need to raise funds but don't want to sell any of their big players, but we can't help but feel a bit gutted if it's true.

Ashby was never meant for the here and now, he was always a signing for the future, but he has bags of potential and, as we said before, looked very promising in pre-season, so we hope it's not true.

The other players mentioned are Ryan Fraser, Isaac Hayden, and Jamal Lewis, and as far as they are concerned I'd happily give them a lift wherever they needed to go, but I really hope we keep hold of Ashby and develop him into the player West Ham fans believed he could be.