Inside Newcastle Q&A: When will the new kit be launched? Who is being sold? Is Samu a striker target?

During the Premier League season, The Athletic’s Newcastle United subscribers can ask our writers covering the club for their views and insight into what’s happening at St James’ Park.

We have pulled together some of the questions and our answers from Monday’s edition of our Inside Newcastle live Q&A, which included queries about front-of-shirt sponsor deals, who will leave this summer and whether the owners have any direct day-to-day involvement at St James’ Park.

Want to ask us anything else Newcastle-related? Chris Waugh will be back soon for another session.

Any idea on when this hideous barcode-design strip will be released? Has there been fan consultation during the design process? Will it be timed for release with a new front-of-shirt sponsor? — Joseph M

Waugh: Newcastle released their kit for 2025-26 ahead of the final game of last season. Whether they will do likewise this year I am unsure because they would need to do so this week, given West Ham is their last home game, while at Fulham they will wear an alternative strip, due to the west Londoners playing in white.

As to whether there was fan consultation over the controversial design, I am unsure, but usually it is a process which involves Adidas as kit manufacturers and Newcastle, rather than supporter input.

My suspicion is it will take a little longer to confirm the kit for 2026-27 because of the front-of-shirt sponsorship with Sela expiring. Sela’s three-year deal ran into this season, so the Adidas-manufactured kit could be released in its entirety at the back end of the previous campaign, but there is greater uncertainty about who will adorn the shirt moving forwards.

Newcastle will be looking for a new front-of-shirt sponsor once the Sela deal ends (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

As of earlier this month, Newcastle had not struck a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal for next season. Nor were they even close to doing so at that stage.

More than half of Premier League front-of-shirt deals are due for renewal and, with betting-advertising regulations changing, the industry feedback is that sponsorship levels on offer have been depressed somewhat. Newcastle do not want to undersell themselves, and so will not merely take a huge cut on the £25m ($34.1m) a year the Sela partnership provides.

Whether a rolling deal for Sela to extend may be agreed, or Newcastle could even go into 2026-27 without a front-of-shirt sponsor, as Chelsea have done previously, is unclear. But David Hopkinson, the CEO, is keen to maximise commercial revenue, so he will not want to see a massive decrease in the valuation of Newcastle’s kit deal if at all possible.

Have you heard anything concrete on potential outgoings? Or are things still in a state of flux? — Davey T

Waugh:  The exact blueprint for Newcastle’s summer window does feel like it is in a state of flux, partly because they could theoretically still get to Europe which would affect business to a degree — although it seems highly unlikely they will — and also due to the uncertainty over the futures of certain players.

Anthony Gordon is destined to depart, seemingly with the blessing of just about all parties involved, as long as Newcastle can recoup close to their valuation, which is believed to be the best part of £80million. Bayern Munich are among the clubs interested and, while Gordon is expected to go, it is not categorical he does because it depends upon a deal being struck.

Anthony Gordon will leave if Newcastle’s valuation is met (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

Kieran Trippier is already leaving, Fabian Schar and the other out-of-contract players are expected to follow, while Aaron Ramsdale’s loan move from Southampton is almost certainly not going to be made permanent.

Joe Willock is entering the final year of his deal and Newcastle will listen to offers, with midfield replacements already being closely monitored (and had they been able to sign Patrick Zabi from Reims in January, he would have been the successor, though he is now heading to Paris FC).

Sandro Tonali has been heavily linked with a move and there is a decent possibility of the Italian leaving, but only if a club can meet the significant overall cost required, which very few can. Tino Livramento, too, may depart, though the full-back’s injury problems may deter his suitors.

The futures of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa are yet to be resolved, too, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that one or even both leave. Beyond that, as far as senior first teamers go, Newcastle hope and expect to keep hold of the rest of their squad, including Bruno Guimaraes.

Can you provide any info on if PIF officials are engaged on a regular basis with NUFC, apart from a yearly visit? — Eliot O

Waugh: The accusations of borderline ‘absenteeism’ levelled at PIF (Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Newcastle’s 85 per cent owners) will only continue while they do not have a visible presence on the ground on Tyneside.

Yet Hopkinson speaks to ownership on an almost daily, if not a daily, basis, while Ross Wilson, the sporting director, is also in regular contact with PIF officials. Much of their communication tends to be over the phone or via video calls — with PIF involvement in many key online conference meetings, especially those which require significant financial commitment.

The most prominent point of contact for many senior staff is Jacobo Solis, PIF’s head of Europe direct investments. The Spaniard, who is a former lawyer and investment banker, has been heavily involved since the takeover of October 2021, and was formerly appointed to Newcastle’s board in January 2025.

It is Solis who is often involved in internal transfer discussions and who acts as a direct point of contact between the majority owners and the club’s hierarchy.

Jamie Reuben, the minority owner, is also regularly in communication with senior figures and is sometimes involved in transfer negotiations, having led club-to-club talks with Nottingham Forest for the Anthony Elanga deal last summer, for example.

But PIF have installed Hopkinson, Wilson and the executive team to run Newcastle on a day-to-day basis, with the CEO having secured greater operational decision-making powers recently so that fewer calls have to be sent to ownership for ratification (though big-money and big-ticket infrastructure items still do).

PIF are not physically present as owners at every match or every day at St James’ Park, yet nor are they anywhere near as hands-off as some suspect.

Do you think the club could rekindle interest in Samu Aghehowa to resolve our striker issue? — Andrew T

Waugh: Samu was definitely considered last summer, but Newcastle did not want to meet the €100m (£86.5m, $117.9m) release clause in his Porto contract. Had the Portuguese side been willing to negotiate at a lower price, Newcastle may have pursued the 22-year-old more aggressively, but Porto were adamant he would only leave if that figure was met.

Porto striker Samu Aghehowa was considered by Newcastle last summer (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Samu has 13 goals in 19 starts in the Portuguese league this season, so has remained prolific, and he does have admirers inside Newcastle, even if there are some misgivings about the rawness of certain aspects of his game and whether he can prove as effective in the Premier League.

But Samu suffered an ACL tear in February and is unlikely to return before the autumn, so it seems unlikely Newcastle would make a big-money move for an injured player this summer.

Do you think it’s likely some of the academy players will get a look-in over the next two games? We’ve got nothing to lose by giving Leo Shahar and Sean Neave a go — James S

Waugh: Some fans were questioning why Shahar did not deputise at right-back against Nottingham Forest, rather than switching Lewis Hall across, while Neave did not even make it on to the bench.

The reality is that Howe just does not deem Neave, the 18-year-old striker, or Shahar, the 19-year-old full-back, to be ready to start Premier League matches yet. The head coach does not have that trust in Alex Murphy, the defender, either, it seems, with the Irishman being named on the bench 23 times in the league this season, only coming on once.

Murphy did make his full debut in the Champions League, though that came in the second leg against Qarabag, when Newcastle were already 6-1 ahead, and he has not featured since.

Leo Shahar has found first-team chances hard to come by at Newcastle (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

When Howe spoke after Forest about planning for the “future”, he seemed to be referencing the first-team squad members who he already knows will be here next season, as well as those he is still undecided on — with Woltemade’s runout at No 10 possibly fitting into that latter bracket.

Neave and Shahar have trained regularly with Newcastle’s first team for almost 18 months now, and the former in particular has shown he is a class above at under-21 level.

Both need first-team football to develop further and, should neither force their way into Howe’s thinking during pre-season, they would benefit greatly from loans in 2026-27. In the unlikely event Newcastle now qualify for the UEFA Conference League, one or both may be kept around and granted minutes in Europe’s third-tier competition. But if Newcastle are not in Europe, the chances of them heading out increases.

Could you clarify what Andy Howe’s responsibilities are in this new executive position? There’s a lot of criticism fired his way from fans who think he’s a nepotistic hire, but I don’t think it’s clear what he actually does — James S

Waugh: The message from inside the club is that the tweaked title is a greater reflection of his current role following a summer in which he was tasked with overseeing incoming transfer business once Paul Mitchell departed as sporting director. Previously the assistant head of recruitment, Andy Howe was asked to step up by the board to lead the window when Mitchell left on May 30.

Hierarchically, the 31-year-old was previously below Steve Nickson, the head of recruitment, who leads the club’s scouting operation. Rather than slotting back into that rank, to represent the responsibility placed upon him during an extremely challenging summer, Wilson sought a new title for Howe, the nephew of Eddie, which is senior football executive (and he reports in to the sporting director).

In practice, insiders insist that Andy Howe’s day-to-day role and general influence is largely unchanged and that he remains a critical recruitment voice who is trusted by Eddie Howe, the head coach. The title change is to tidy up a club structure which, on the recruitment side at least, has seemed opaque, given Andy Howe’s level of influence relative to his previous positions (at least in name).

Andy Howe has been integral to Newcastle’s post-takeover recruitment operation and an influential voice during transfer discussions, as shown during video calls on the 2023 Amazon Prime documentary, We Are Newcastle United.

He identifies players, whittles down target lists, scouts and speaks to agents (and clubs) regarding deals. He pushed for the signings of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, two of Newcastle’s most expensive overseas imports, as well as Anthony Gordon, Tino Livramento, Elanga and Jacob Ramsey.

“He’s played a huge part in recruiting some key players,” Eddie Howe said of Andy Howe during a press conference in March 2024.

The nepotism allegations have followed the pair from Bournemouth, where they previously worked together, to Tyneside, when Andy joined Eddie soon after the latter’s appointment in November 2021. Those accusations are easy to level, given their familial connection, but the fact Andy Howe is still at the club and has a senior executive title suggests his work and input has been valued by at least some within the hierarchy.