Newcastle United 'forgotten man' handed surprise call-up after 2024-25 Premier League squad snub

Hayden was named in the starting line-up for Newcastle United Under-21s in the 2-1 National League Cup win against Halifax Town at The Shay. The Young Magpies won the game with Johnny Emerson and Ben Parkinson cancelled out Andrew Oluwabori’s opener.

Watch Geordie Journos on ShotsTV! Our favourite Newcastle United matches

Halifax finished the match with 10 men as Festus Arthur was sent off late on following a mass brawl. Hayden started the match and played an hour before being replaced by Trevan Sanusi.

It was his first taste of action as a Newcastle player since December 2021. The 29-year-old midfielder has spent the last two seasons on loan at Norwich City, Standard Liege and Queens Park Rangers but has been unable to secure a permanent exit.

Hayden has not trained with the Newcastle first-team since returning from his loan spell at QPR and has been made available for transfer. He was unable to secure an exit in the summer and is currently with Diarmuid O’Carroll’s Under-21s side to maintain his fitness as he looks for a new club.

Hayden was also left out of Newcastle’s 25-man senior squad for the first half of the 2024-25 season, which included an unprecedented five senior goalkeepers. The former Arsenal youngster remains contract at St James’ Park until 2026, having signed a six-year deal back in 2020.

He has made 171 appearances for Newcastle, scoring seven goals but his last appearance came in a 4-0 home defeat to Manchester City in December 2021. Injuries kept Hayden out for the remainder of the 2021-22 season before he was loaned out to Norwich the following summer.