Despite returning to form in recent weeks, it’s not all good news for Eddie Howe and Newcastle United, who have been dealt another injury blow in what is already a squad which lacks strength in depth.
Newcastle injury news
The Magpies were slow out of the blocks, but have since returned to winning ways at the same time that Alexander Isak has returned to the scoresheet in no coincidence. The Swede has helped fire Howe’s side to recent victories over both Arsenal and high-flying Nottingham Forest even as doubts emerge over his long-term future at St James’ Park.
Losing a player of Isak’s quality is not something that Howe will want to think about. Those at St James’ Park already got a glimpse of life without their star striker earlier in the campaign when Anthony Gordon was forced to lead the line to little success compared to his teammate.
Isak’s earlier injury is one of several that Newcastle have already had to deal with in the current campaign. As things stand, they’re still without Callum Wilson, Kieran Trippier and now one other versatile defender following the latest injury news.
As reported by The Shields Gazette, Emil Krafth is now set to miss multiple Newcastle games through injury after suffering a broken collarbone in the build-up to victory over Nottingham Forest. The ill-timed blow has seen the defender pull out of international duty with Sweden and could keep him sidelined until 2025.
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With Sven Botman not expected back until the new year, Newcastle once again find themselves short on numbers defensively, creating only more regret over their failure to sign Marc Guehi in the summer. Nonetheless, Howe must now turn towards the likes of Lloyd Kelly to step up against West Ham United after the international break.
Newcastle paying the price for summer failure
Squad depth was an issue for Newcastle last season, but the summer transfer window gave them ample opportunity to solve that problem even amid profit and sustainability concerns. Instead, their full focus remained on Guehi, who they failed to sign before settling for the options they now find themselves juggling. The January transfer window simply must end differently.
In the meantime, Howe must cope without a player whose versatility has become more and more important at St James’ Park. Krafth’s ability to play both centre-back and right-back has been invaluable throughout injuries to Jamaal Lascelles and Botman, but now Newcastle must come up with a different solution.
Howe has rightly been full of praise for the Swede, telling reporters as relayed by The Shields Gazette earlier this month: “Krafu maybe originated from some of our players in the squad and maybe one of the coaches as well adopted many nicknames for Krafty.
“He’s such an unassuming, brilliant professional, very hard working and so dependable. When you meet him, you see that solid character and also a very, very good player. Probably very underrated by the outside world.
“Internally we love him, we all see his qualities. He can play multiple positions for us and this year he’s been brilliant at centre-half and at full-back. I always say it’s really important to have players like that.”
