Nine players are in the final year of their contracts with Newcastle United and three of them should be let go next summer.
We are only one month into the 2019-20 Premier League campaign, but Newcastle United’s front office already have some important decisions to make regarding who they will want to keep and who they will want to let go next summer. Most players in the squad have at least another season left on their contracts, but nine players have contracts that will expire upon the conclusion of this season.
Of the players in that list, which includes some notable first team names like Federico Fernandez and Javier Manquillo, three players should not be handed new contracts. The club would be much better off investing in new talent over wasting money on the following players: Ki Sung-Yueng, Rob Elliot, and Jamie Sterry.
Ki Sung-Yueng
My expectations for Ki were high when the Magpies signed the former Swansea City man last summer, but the midfielder has failed to meet expectations on Tyneside. He’s never been recognized as a goal scorer, so I won’t hold his inability to score in 19 Premier League appearances for the Toon against him, but his lack of desire to get involved in the attack is a problem.
The only thing Ki has going for him is his composure on the ball, but Sean Longstaff and Jonjo Shelvey provide that for the team, too. In addition, Isaac Hayden is playing at an elite level and he has my early vote for the team’s Player of the Year award. That being said, Ki has fallen down the pecking order at Newcastle United and his weekly wage of £40,000 looks like a waste of money at this point.
Rob Elliot
Elliot is a talented goalkeeper and he did a decent job as a starter in the 2017-18 campaign, and when healthy I actually prefer Elliot to be the Magpies’ second keeper over Karl Darlow. It is worth mentioning that Darlow’s contract expires at the end of the season, too, but the reason Elliot is on this list over Darlow is because injuries have plagued his career on Tyneside. On a weekly wage of £25,000, Newcastle United need to let Elliot go and target a young keeper who can provide some proper competition for Martin Dubravka.
Jamie Sterry
Sterry is a player who has shown flashes of potential, but it is hard to see the 23-year-old breaking into the first team squad. Seeing that the club chose to bring in Emil Krafth over promoting Sterry to compete with DeAndre Yedlin and Javier Manquillo for the starting role at right-back, I think it’s fair to say that Sterry doesn’t have a future at St. James’ Park. Sterry only earns a mere £2,000 a week, which is pocket change for Mike Ashley, but keeping him around would only waste his time and potential to grow as a player.