£50k-p/w Newcastle man excluded from squad vs Wolves after refusing exit

One Newcastle man will not be a part of Eddie Howe’s squad to take on Wolves this weekend after it emerged he had turned down the chance to leave the club in the summer, and now risks being frozen out entirely.

Difficult summer for Newcastle amid financial fair play concerns

It was not the transfer window that any at St James’ Park would have envisioned amid major concerns of breaching the Premier League’s financial fair play regulations and a failure to lure top talent to Tyneside.

The June 30th deadline to comply with FFP saw the Magpies forced into the sales of young duo Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson, fetching £65m for the pair, as Minteh joined Brighton for £30m and Anderson completed a £35m move to Nottingham Forest.

It ended speculation that the club could be forced into selling one of their established first team stars amid links between Anthony Gordon and Liverpool, as well as Alexander Isak and Arsenal. Speaking over the summer, midfielder Sean Longstaff admitted it felt as though everyone was up for sale as the Magpies rushed to raise funds.

“We’re not stupid, we’d seen all the stuff with financial fair play (FFP) and who was on the table and who wasn’t on the table. At that point, the way it seemed, everyone had their price and unfortunately for Elliot and for us, he was the one who had to go”, he told the Athletic.

But despite complying, it remained a very quiet summer for Newcastle, with Lloyd Kelly arriving on a free transfer and William Osula joining from Sheffield United, while goalkeeping duo John Ruddy and Odysseas Vlachodimos also arrived and they officially made Lewis Hall’s loan move from Chelsea permanent.

Newcastle man to be frozen out

Now, in a peculiar if predictable turn of events, The Athletic report that summer signing Odysseas Vlachodimos is set to be frozen out of the squad just months after becoming the most expensive goalkeeper in the club’s history.

The Greek shot-stopper technically arrived from Nottingham Forest for £20m as part of the deal to send Anderson to the City Ground, but his arrival was only ever a necessity to balance the books at both clubs, despite ostensibly being a separate deal from Anderson’s.

However, he has not been a part of any of the club’s matchday squads so far this season, and The Athletic claim that he “will not be selected for the game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday”. Indeed, they add that he “has already been told he can leave St James’ Park, an opportunity he declined”.

Meanwhile, it is claimed that “the prospects of Vlachodimos playing for Newcastle any time soon are said to be almost non-existent”, which will leave him taking home £50,000 a week for the remainder of his stay on Tyneside without ever being involved in competitive action. Given the nature of the deal, it is a sad but entirely unsurprising turn of events for Greece’s no.1.