Newcastle United finalise Premier League 25-man squad list as Andy Carroll spotted on Tyneside

Newcastle United failed to add to their squad before the summer transfer window closed on August 31. The club’s only senior signing was Joe Willock, who returned on a permanent deal following a successful half-season loan last season.

The next deadline comes tomorrow. The club, which issued a lengthy statement detailing it’s “approach” to the transfer window last week, must submit its 25-man squad to the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s game against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Clubs normally have to submit these lists more or less immediately after the summer window closes, but teams have had longer to finalise their squads this season due to the international break.

This means that there’s still time, technically, for Newcastle to sign a free agent, though the club made it clear that it was “done” in terms of first-team arrivals last week.

That hasn’t stopped United being linked with a number of players, notably 32-year-old Andy Carroll, who left St James’s Park in the summer following the expiry of his contract.

Carroll, linked with Reading before the transfer deadline, is still looking for another club, and the striker – whose young family is based in Essex – was seen training on a seven-a-side pitch in the city early this week.

Daniel Sturridge – who has been without a club since leaving Trabzonspor in March last year – has also been linked with Newcastle. The 32-year-old striker, looking to restart his football career, said he’s “champing at the bit” in a recent Instagram post.

United have 25 eligible players, so if the club was to add a free agent, head coach Steve Bruce, expected to take the unusual step of naming four goalkeepers in his group, would have to leave someone out.

Bruce, for his part, had been looking to sign another midfielder and a defender.

The squad rules do not allow a club with 25 eligible players to leave a spot vacant for a free agent at a later date.

Each top-flight squad must contain no more than 17 players who do not fulfil the “Home Grown Player” criteria. Homegrown players must have been registered with a British football association for three seasons before their 21st birthday.

Clubs also have to submit a separate list of Under-21 players.

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