Eddie Howe drops £125m Newcastle United selection hint ahead of Aston Villa clash

Newcastle will be looking to compete for the Champions League places once again after finishing fourth in the Premier League season. The Magpies achieved that with a relatively small core group of players with only minor tweaks and forced changes made over the course of the season.

Discussing his team selection process, Howe admitted that the players who served him well last season are at a slight advantage over rotation players and new signings.

“Of course, I think you recognise where players have done well for you historically and you take that into account when you’re making decisions,” Howe told The Gazette.

“Ultimately you have to go with the team that gives you the best chance of winning this game, that’s my clear vision. There is no going back to history, it’s about the here and now.

“I couldn’t live with my own conscience if I made decisions that went away from my own thoughts. Sometimes that’s when you make a decision that will surprise people maybe externally or even internally but it’s just about what I think at that moment having been in training and recent games, I make a decision based on that and what gives us the best chance to win.”

Over the summer Newcastle have spent around £125million on the signings of Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento. And The Magpies head coach hinted that the trio would have to ‘work their way into the team’ rather than start straight away.

“I think when you look at it logically, you’ve got a team that finished fourth last season so to make radical changes to that team would probably be foolish,” the Magpies head coach added. “You bring in players who add strength to the group and over time those players will either work their way into the team or they won’t.

“That’s where I start, then you take into account player’s form and fitness at that moment which obviously adds another angle to it.”